The Night You Were Mine
by Cloud Albatou
Summary: On a night in the Duelist Kingdom not long after the battle between Yami and Bakura-chan, Ryou-chan finds comfert in the arms of someone slightly unexpected. Yaoi.
1. Yugioh's POV

A.n.-This idea has been in my head forever and its great to finally get it out in the open^_^. Takes place a lil' while after the battle between Yami and Bakura in the Shadow Realm but before the battle between Joey and Kaiba. Enjoy the fic^_~hehe.  
  
Disclaimer-I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.  
  
Also, for those of you who oppose Fanfiction.net's new policy regarding NC- 17 fics go to:  
  
http://www.petitionOnline.com/KEEPNC17/  
  
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I paced bordly through out my Soul Room. Golden Egyptian robes worthy of the Pharaoh I had been so long ago hung from my body as I walked over to my Soul door. Silently I concentrated on the Hikari half of my soul. His mind was scattered in a playful manner, his thoughts never staying in one place. He was asleep. Good. Concentrating harder through his ears I heard no voices or sounds aside from a few nocturnal animals and a rather loud snorting I assumed was coming from my Abiou's friend Jounouchi Katsuya.  
  
Closing my crimson eyes I gently separated myself from my Abiou to take a physical form outside of him. It was as easy as breathing and I soon found myself overshadowed by the pale light of the moon. I stretched lazily, glancing down at larger more fitting outfits that resembles my Hikari's that I was currently clothed in.It was actually kind of comfortable..though not as silkly comfertable as my Egyption robes..   
  
The night was silent, the wind brushing against my flesh in a fleeting caress that made my smile slightly. It had been a long time really since I had just.... felt natural things like this. I mean, the only times I was really out of Soul Room was to help my Abiou in a duel.  
  
Game King I may be, but I still have to concentrat on whatever game i'm currently playing lest I want to lose my title. Me lose my position as the King of Games? Hah, not likely. But still, never a good idea to take chances on it. Shaking my head slightly at my own thoughts I glanced up at the sky. Brilliant stars cascaded their light down on me, fighting valiantly to outshine the moon above.  
  
The view of the stars was much wider back then, back when I was Pharaoh. But from some of the information of learned through my Abiou's thoughts, my homeland was far away. Closing my eyes slightly I sighed. I did miss it, Egypt...my palace...everything about it really. Sure, ruling an Empire's not the easiest thing in the world.... but it had been fun at times really...  
  
Abruptly I heard the sound of leaves being rustled. Reacting quickly a moved into the shadows and squatted down, my eyes piercing through the darkness to see what had caused the disturbance. Silver hair reflected in the moonlight, chocolate brown eyes surveyed the area before walking forward the edge of the cliff and sitting down.  
  
Ah, yes, it was the owner of the Sennen Ring and the Hikari of that Soul Stealer......Ryou Bakura, wasn't it? I frowned slightly. What was he doing up so late? I walked toward him, watching him stiffen abruptly, he whirled around; blatant fear crossing his face before lessening slightly. Melted chocolate pools held a certain wariness as they narrowed suddenly.  
  
"Y-your Yugi's Yami aren't you?"  
  
I felt surprise fill me, none of the others had even really guessed about me yet. Believing the duel we'd had with the Soul Stealer in the Shadow Realm a simple dream. Hmm, I didn't know it was possible for everyone to have the same dream.  
  
Shaking off my twisted humor at my Abiou's somewhat dense friends I nodded to the silver haired boy and slowly sat down next to him, trying my hardest to act casual so as to not frighten the boy anymore then he already is. His tenseness didn't lessen though as he averted his gaze from me. I stared hard at him, noting the frailness of him, the way he seemed to second-guess his movements and words.  
  
How his eyes were restless, never settling on an object too long as though it would break underneath his gaze. He rubbed his shoulders slightly though there was no chill in the air. He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his legs.  
  
"You...."he paused, as though not knowing how to phrase his words. The hesitance made me sad, knowing that perhaps at one time he hadn't been so shy to speak," You, must b-be, the Pharaoh my darker half was ranting about through our Soul link during the duel in the Shadow Realm, ne?"  
  
I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow," I was a Pharaoh....long ago." I admitted, not wanting to really speak of what little I remembered of that time. To much betrayal lay there, too much hurt, too many emotions to be clearly defined." Your darker half was a Tomb Robber back then, one of the more notaries ones."  
  
He nodded slightly, his gaze flickering to me for an instant then back to the sky," I know. He....He was rather....prideful I suppose about that little factor. Saying that you and your guards couldn't have caught him if he'd walked right into the throne room with all of his lout from varies raids."  
  
I bristled slightly at the comment. True, it had taken us a long time to actually -find- the Tomb Robber, but he had to rub it in some how even though he was locked the Shadow Realm didn't he? Disgruntled I lowered my gaze to the glittering Sennen Ring on his neck. I felt my eyes narrow at the sight.  
  
"Why do you still wear the Ring? Your Yami has no power over you now, you can remove it and toss it into the sea below if you wished."  
  
His fingers curled around it in a protective manner as he shook his head," No...He...He may be gone...b-but..."he stammered slightly, his eyes glazing with tears suddenly," It doesn't feel like it....and besides....it was a gift from my father...and...every time I've ever thought of getting rid of it, it seems to pull me into forcing it on." he shrugged slightly, drawing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.  
  
"It hurts, you know?"  
  
I felt my eyebrows draw together in confusion,"Hmm?"  
  
Ryou rested his head on his knees as he responded,"....Having him gone. It....It feels like I've been ripped in half....like...a part of me is missing and it'll never be returned."  
  
I nodded, understanding." He was your other half....its not unlikely you would feel that way.....but...it had to be done, Ryou.....you know that...otherwise, you wouldn't have helped us during the Shadow Game."  
  
He winced slightly, closing his eyes," Yes....I know...but it doesn't make it all that much easier.."  
  
I said nothing, dropping my gaze to the grass as I tried to find something to say. Though, there really wasn't much I could do. As evil as Ryou's Yami had appeared to me he had still been Ryou's darker half....the other half of his soul. To lose it no matter the circumstance probably did hurt. I'd feel the same if Yugi were suddenly gone and left me alone in the shadows for a few more centuries.  
  
Glancing back at Ryou I noticed his shirt had ridden up in the back revealing a large black and blue bruise that marred the flesh there. Forgetting Ryou was most likely to be offended by my next action I lifted up the back of his shirt. What I saw made my eyes widen and my heart convulse in my chest.  
  
Numerous scars and cuts crisscrossed his back. Bruises of all kinds rode up through him, marring the perfection of his skin. He was so thin that I could nearly count all of his bones, see the blue rivers that were his veins despite the grotesqueness of the Mountain like marks that nearly dominated his flesh.  
  
He jerked back away from me, yanking his shirt down as he did so. The movement gave me a flash of his bared wrist. A deep scraggly scar lay there. A mark of a failed attempt to leave this world.  
  
"Who did this to you?" I growled, already knowing the answer as I spoke who had caused the beaten marks on his small frame, and just who had pushed someone with a gentle nature as him so close to the edge.  
  
Chocolate brown eyes filled with tears instantly as he shrunk back away from me. Anger boiled within me as I stared at him, silently demanding the answer I already knew.  
  
He looked away,"M-my..."he stammered uncertinely,"M-my Yami did it....he....he was angry when I defied him about.....about following you all to the Duelist Kingdom......s-s-so H-h-he could try and s-steal the Puzzle..."  
  
Disgust flew through me. I had known already that the Tomb Robber was cruel, Ra he'd shown that during the Duel in the Shadow Realm...but to harm his Hikari? His -HIKARI-.......Now....that was farther beyond the pail then I thought anyone would dare go. I was certain that if the Tomb Robber had appeared before me at this moment he'd of re-learnt a few more of the more painful treatments that traitors were given back in Ancient Egypt.  
  
Suddenly a disturbing thought came to me as I looked guiltily over at Ryou.  
  
"How..."I swallowed hard, yet I still had to know," How long have you worn the Ring?"  
  
He closed his eyes, a single tear falling as he did so. Quickly he whipped it away, and returned his gaze to me. Instantly I noticed how he refused to look me in the eye, instead staring either off to the side of my hair or at my chin...never dareing to raise it any higher....it reminded me vaugly of the slaves I used to have back when I was a Pharaoh. They'd never meet my eyes either...  
  
But Ryou wasn't my slave. Or anyones for that matter. According to Yuugi people were more or less free in this new world...slavery simply didn't exist anymore...why then did he not look me in the eyes as an equel instead of shying away like the lowliest of slaves? Why? Becouse of his darker half? Had the Tomb Robber engrained such fear of looking anyone in the eye into the silver haired tenchie?   
  
"....Five years..."he said at last, his eyes flickering up to meet mine for a split second before looking away just as fast.  
  
His reply left me without words. Five years. Five years with an abusive spirit with a thirst for power. How had he survived it? How?  
  
"Have...you ever told anyone about what he was doing?"  
  
He shook his head slightly and I felt a ball of emotion rise in my throat at his silent response. It was easy now to see why he was so withdrawn, why he never seemed to look anyone in the eye when they spoke. Why he always seemed to second-guess his words as he spoke, why his voice was always so soft and halting.  
  
Angrily I glanced up at the stars. Why hadn't anyone seen it? Why hadn't anyone seen his pain? Why hadn't I noticed it sooner? Why hadn't I seen it the comment he'd been returned to his body in the Shadow Realm? Useless questions. The simple answer was that I hadn't thought to look. I'd only been worried about my own Hikari's safety and that of his friends. And....while I had known instantly that Ryou's Yami had few, if any, scruples I hadn't thought he hurt his Hikari. It had never even entered my mind.  
  
Still, it didn't lessen my anger that I hadn't known...that no one had known. That in five long years no one had tried to help him. Breaking out of my inner fury I noticed that the young boy had begun to tremble, a small slightly repressed sob breaking through him as he wrapped he wrapped his arms around his legs and pressed his face into his knees. Trying to make himself as small as possible.  
  
A surge of protectiveness I didn't understand bursted through me, compelling me to comfort the boy. The feeling rose to full boil within me as I scooted closer and draped an arm over his shoulders. Sadly I noticed he tensed instantly at my light touch, trembling all the more before he whirled around suddenly and wrapped his arms around my waist, burying his face in my chest as he finally began to cry the tears he'd been trying to hold back.  
  
I wrapped my arms awkwardly around him....it had been a long time since I had offered comfort to anyone before. A very long time. But the boy in my arms sunk greedily into my arms, holding me tightly as though I would suddenly push him away. I tightened my grip in what I hoped was a comforting way and rested my head on his as I let the boy weep.  
  
Idly I wondered how long it had been since anyone had held the boy as he cried. Since he received the Ring? Or perhaps it was longer even then that. The mere thought saddened and angered me. Ryou was as innocent as my own Abiou...A gift from Ra more or less. A gift should be treated as such....not as simple trash.  
  
Slowly the boy's sobs died down slightly though the boy didn't move from my embrace. Smiling slightly glanced up at the star-filled sky and silently vowed to do all I could try and protect the boy in my arms just as I would protect my Abiou. Anyone who wanted to harm them would have to be go through me first.  
  
And as many an enemy has learned, I am by far a worthy opponent they will never overcome. The silver-haired one in my arms shifted slightly, I glanced down into his chocolate brown orbs and smiled slightly at him.  
  
His eyes brightened slightly as a small smile toke his lips as well. It was a beautiful thing, but so heart-breaking to see. He was so wary, almost as though he was frightened to death of everyone and everything...for every move he made, the way his eyes scanned my every expression just to make certain he wasn't a burden of some sort....all of it was with a touch of fear and worry...  
  
He was so beautiful and his embrace sparked a warm feeling deep in my heart, I couldn't find it in me why anyone would abuse a gift like this, One with a light that rivaled my own Abiou ....to abuse it and transform it it into the trembleing being in my arms...Just staring into those melted chocolate orbs made an invisible silver cord seem to appear and wrap around me binding him to me compleatly.  
  
It suddenly toke all my self-control not to lean down and crush the supple lips of Ryou to my own. The desire was so strong that a small tremble raced through me. Though it wasn't an unpleasant feeling, far from it. The creature in my arms was unworldly beautiful, so flawed and so flawless.  
  
Shaking my head slightly, I fought to keep the smile on my face. Knowing that Ryou would probably take it as it being his own doing. Which, in a sense it was but not in the manner he would most likely believe. Against my will, I studied the finely boned features of the god that had fallen into my arms. High cheekbones that were perfect on his angular face, large luminous eyes framed by thick black lashes. Full, pouting lips stuck out tempting....Inviting...  
  
//No.//I thought firmly.  
  
I was having a little trouble breathing now despite my firm denial, his sweet scent in my nostrils was bordelineined addictive. The warmth of his frame in my arms feeling as right as breathing itself. I longed to simply capture those full lips with my own, to release the carnal feelings that were steadily rising within me. I wanted to make him my own in every way, bind him fully to me for longer then an eternity..  
  
Swallowing hard I did my best to shove the thoughts away. He was hurt so spiritually and physically that my attraction, if one could even name what I was currently feeling, would not exactly be a problem solver at the moment. For a brisk moment I longed for a portal to open so I could simply take the white-haired Hikari back with me and save him from any hardships that existed in this world. At least they're having him as my own forever wouldn't be questioned and there wouldn't be any problems in the way.  
  
It wasn't right of me to think such things though. It wasn't as though he was ever going to feel the way I was currently feeling anyway. He probably wasn't feeling to fond of Ancient Egyption spirts anyway becouse of that blasted Tomb Robber. And even without that Soul Stealer's past precence...there wasn't a high chance Ryou would like me that way anyway...i'm a Spirt that was locked in a Puzzle...not that great of a relationship starter.  
  
Relationship? I wanted a *relationship* with the boy in my arms? I smiled slightly. Yes. Yes I did. But it was so complicated..so very complicated...The mere thought forced me to swallow back a growl of utter frustration. At first I'd thought my mission was to simply protect Yugi from any harm that may come floating his way...now it seemed my role in this new world had become a lot more complicated...however...I was really minding this complication, if one could call it that, all that much.  
  
Sighing slightly I tried to banish such thoughts and simply be content in holding the boy in my arms. On a night where nothing mattered, and for one brief moment......Ryou was mine.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A.n.-Well, what didja all think? Wasn't -that- bad was it? Sorry if I made Bakura-chan sound kinda cruel and malicious in this fic....I really love his character most of the time....but remember, this is told from Yami's p.o.v....and he's not all fond of Bakura-chan in the first place. Stealing peoples souls and trying to take the Puzzle kind of tipped Bakura-chan into the hated enemy zone, y'know? Heh, I hope you'll liked the fic...I might write another chap showing these events from Ryou-chans p.o.v. or maybe I'll write another chap about the events after this....I dunno...its up to whether ya'all review or not^_~heh.  
  
Also, for those of you who oppose fanfiction.net's new policy please go to: http://www.petitionOnline.com/KEEPNC17/ I know this is the second time I've advertised this link......but I felt the need to say it again.  
  
Ja ne 


	2. Ryou's POV

A.n.-Hiya everyone^_^ty for your reviews on the last chappie^_^I hope this one lives up to your expectations^_^  
  
Dedication-To everyone who reviewed the last chap^_^Arigatou minna!^_^  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
My heart and soul ached vibrantly as I turned over for what seemed the millionth time on the hard ground. Sleep continued to elude me no matter how I tried to position myself. I couldn't bring myself to lay on my back due to my darker halves "punishment" marks still remained from before the ship to the Duelist Kingdom. You wouldn't think a bruises would take so long to heal; although my Yami had a way of making them stay for a very long time...He had a little bit of a gift when it came to that...  
  
I shivered slightly at the mere memories such a thought arouse. Letting out a trembling breath I felt tears cloud my eyes. Taking in a shaky breath I slowly rose to my feet, trying my best to swallow the tears that were steadily arising. What was the point to cry any more? Wasn't like anyone would ever come to comfort me. Like my Yami had said many a time before: I simply not worth the effort. I suppose I've never been anything to anyone before. My mother died when I was 9 and not long after that my father threw himself into his work. It was on one of his work obsessed nights he had found the Ring.  
  
The seemingly innocent appearing item that held within the darker half of my soul, my prisoner, my torturer, my -abiou-. If I had known what had dwelt within it....if I had known what would happen the moment I put it on....I'd of thrown it out the window into the sewer or something. No...maybe I wouldn't have done that. That would have risked releasing him onto some other poor soul. I'd of probably locked it up in a chest and never opened or spoke of it again...  
  
I hung my head slightly as I walked forward toward the cliff edge. Below I could hear the sounds of the waves crashing hungrily against the sharp rocks. I don't know about being able to have the strength to lock it away. From the moment I had seen it the urge to put it on had been far to strong for me to even attempt to resist. Maybe my Yami was correct when he called me weak and pathetic all those times.  
  
I won't deny that before my Yami had come into my life i'd always felt so in-compleat and like a ghost in the world. Though one could also say that it was caused by the mere fact that I was, and still am, rather shy. But I always felt so empty inside. But the second the thick leather rope of the Ring had slipped around my neck that feeling was gone. But at such a price.  
  
From the moment my darker half appeared he despised me. Calling me a curse from the gods because I was so weak, frail, and pathetic. Maybe he was right, though I belive I was the one that was cursed. Cursed to have him in my life. At first I did try to become friends with him, even tried doing a few nice things for him once in a while in hopes that maybe he would see me in a different light.  
  
I was wrong though. He saw such gestures as my own weakness festering about, lowering myself to entirely new levels. Such things were costly and often caused enough pain that sometimes I couldn't move from my bed for a few days and was forced to tell everyone I tripped and fell down the stairs. Well, those that bothered to ask that is.  
  
Years pasted and I more or less became used to my Yami's harsh words and treatments. Though I still possessed a spark of rebellion in me for his treatment of me every now and then. In a way I think my Yami enjoyed my defiance at times, he saw it as a game and my breaking completely was the sweet prize.  
  
At one point I did finally crack. The constant pain, lack of sleep and food, the emotional trauma and the stress building steadily and steadily each day simply kept building. Until at last....I snapped. Like a piece of string pulled far too taunt. Though mine wasn't in the violent way, it wasn't enough to give me the courage to actually.....Physically fight back. Trying that during a beating was a guaranteed way to the hospital....which had only happened maybe once or twice really. Not that anyone had come to visit me. God, I sound so bitter don't I? Though maybe after all this time I've a right to be bitter.  
  
Anyway, not long after i'd emotionally finally snapped I belive it was nearly two years since I'd worn the Ring. I'd tried, really I did, to live my life and balance in all out hopeing against hope that maybe....things would change. They didn't, and each day I slipped farther and farther out of reach of the world. More so then I had been before the Ring had ever come to be about my neck.  
  
It was late at night when i'd finally gathered enough of my wits to go through with what I saw then, and even now, as the only solution. I'd leave this world and hopefully take my darker half with me so no other would suffer as I have. It had been just after one of my "lighter" beatings. Though "lighter" in my Yami's definition was where I could walk at least some what afterward instead of laying in agony on the floor trying my hardest not to move a single muscle.  
  
After he had retreated into the ring I'd risen and limped downstairs toward the kitchen. Keeping my thoughts mundane like I'd slowly walked into the kitchen and opened the drawer which held the sharpest knives. I can remember the pounding of my heart and the near giddyness that was rising in me from the fact that freedom was so close that I could taste it.  
  
My darker half was currently resting, or something close to that, inside of the Ring...not really paying attention to what I was doing. Good. Reaching inside I quickly grabbed the sharpest knife I could find. The silver blade glimmered in the light and I felt a small smile grace my features.  
  
Holding the knife at the appropriate angle I made a quick, deep slash across my wrists. I bite my tongue hard against the pain, the taste of coppery taste of blood fill my mouth. Quickly I switched the angle and sliced upwards up my vein. Rich red blood flowed vibrantly.  
  
Quickly I did the same to the other wrist, though I was rapidly losing a battle against the pain. Crying out softly I'd dropped the knife into the sink and sunk to my knee's and leaned against the multible cabinets near the floor. Blood quickly began to make a pool around me and I was actually beginning to feel a little sick to my stomach  
  
But then agine, that didn't really matter. I was free. I'd begun to laugh in a rather hysterical way after that. I was beginning to feel a little cold though, and weaker then before. Not surprisingly since i'd already lost a lot of blood. Then I'd felt it. A sudden stirring in the back of my mind, the feeling of Yami becoming curious about what I was doing most likely to cause such intense emotions.  
  
In a frantic gesture I'd tried to block away my thoughts, not realizing that it simply would make him more suspesious. My thoughts were becoming muddled together though, it was hard to think or concentrait on anything so it wasn't surprising when my Yami broke through them and appeared in front of me.  
  
My oh so kind Yami was ranting what a fool I was as he lifted me up into his arms and began to carry me up stairs. His threats of pain even modern numbing drugs couldn't help fell on deaf ears as I struggled weakly in his arms. He would kill me for this, well no he wouldn't. To kill me would me killing himself...no, but I'd probably be beginning him to end it before long. Not that I haven't done that before. I remember he was rather fond when I'd done that. Finding it rather amusing.  
  
My Yami finally tired of my struggles and used his Shadow Powers to over overwealm my already weakened body. As my mind had fallen into the crowning oblivion I'd known that my hopes of death even if he bandages my wounds were completely in vain. I'd awaken alive and he'd be more then ready to dish out the punishment. I wasn't wrong, obviously. He was angry. Violently so, well more violent then usual that is.  
  
I trembled again, closing my eyes tightly at the memory of my punishment for daring suicide. Even breathing after that had caused agony...I've still many scars from that.....both physically and mentally. I don't think I left my bed for a few days after at except for forcing myself to rise to use the bathroom and scrounge up something for me to eat.  
  
The flame of defiance left me for a long time after that. Until my Yami wanted me to follow Yugi to the Duelist Kingdom to steal his Sennen Puzzel that is. I had known for a long time that my Yami was on the hunt for the Senne Items, saying I was going to help him get them wether I liked it or not. I hadn't cared when he'd first told me that. Hopeing that when he had them he'd finally simply leave me alone.  
  
But....Yugi was, and still is, so kind...so innocent...so trusting......that.....that I couldn't bring myself to do it. He was the only person who'd ever really taken the time to take extra notes for me in the class when I didn't show up, who made sure I got all my homework when I was gone, always ask'd if I was okay......he was my friend....and I've never really had many of those through out my life......and I couldn't bring myself to betray his trust.  
  
Needless to say, this really didn't go over well with my darker half. I ended up getting a severe punishment before he locked me into my Soul Room and used my body to get on board the ship to the Duelist Kingdom. I wasn't aloud to leave my soul room for a long time, though sometimes he let me see what was going on while he was using my body.  
  
Mainly he was simply stalking Yugi and the others until the opportunity arouse for him to move in to take the Puzzle. And, eventually, (despite my pleads for him to leave them alone; which in turn gave me severel mental smacks for my trouble) they were all camping outside, alone.....and vulnerble enough for him to strike.  
  
He'd retreated halfway into the Ring, his control still half-way there so if I tried anything he would be able to swiftly take over. He promised the kill Jounouchi first then the others if I let them know what was going on. Damning myself over and over for being so weak I'd done as he asked. I had them all name their favorite cards then challenged them gently to a little game of Duel Monsters.  
  
Even now the memory of my utter weakness makes me cringe. I wanted to protect them yet I helped my Yami get them in the right places for his plan to work. True, I hadn't known -what- his plan was exactly....and I had been secretly praying that Yugi's item had some sort of power to aid him in defeating my darker half. That if their was truly any benevolent superior being then Yugi wouldn't be hurt.  
  
The second they were place my Yami shoved me back into my Soul Room and the Shadow Game began, I remember even now the absolute gloating triumph that had echoed through our Soul link as my Yami watched them all tremble with fear before sealing them in their playing cards. Then the darkness had begun to fall swiftly over me, and the feeling of utter fear that shot through me as I realized my Yami wasn't trying to lock me in--he was separating me from my Soul Room and my body *completely*.  
  
I had known that a game in the Shadow Realm was dangerous, very muchly so. But I hadn't completely figured out until later that when my Yami had made a game out of the their souls he too had to front one.....and since he sure as hell wasn't going to use himself--that left me. Perhaps he was triumphant about that as well. That he wouldn't have someone as pathetic as me around so much.  
  
Maybe my being sealed in the Change of Heart card was a blessing in his eyes. I'll never know really now at any rate--my Yami is gone now. Vanquished by the spirt from Mutou Yugi's Yami. My Yami apparently hadn't considered the fact that their could be others such as himself sealed into the Sennen Items--not that he really went into much depth about the Items really....he wasn't very....Talkative when it came to that subject...when he spoke it was normally an insult/curse at me....  
  
I swallowed the ball of emotion that rose in my throat, trying to chock down my tears so as to not wake the others. I can't wake them...then they'll want to know what's wrong....and I......I can't explain it to them....they simply won't understand. They can't understand. They probably belive I should be happy that Yugi's Yami has sent him to the Shadow Realm......but...I'm not...  
  
Maybe I'm crazy then....missing him like this has to mean I've fallen off the edge of sanity or something...But...no matter how cruel he was to me....my Yami was still exactly that: my Yami. My darkness, the other half of my soul. Even when he was beating the living daylights out of me....I still.....still felt complete. Sick, isn't it?  
  
He beat me, screamed at me, claimed to hate me with every fiber in his being any yet.......I cared about him....I know I did. Impossible as that it probably sounds I did. I never truly hated him. I hated the way he treated me, but not him. Never him. I....wanted to belive that he would change, that their truly was a spark of good in him. Maybe their was...and I was just to weak to find it. Too pathetic as he said.  
  
Funny, he's been with me for so long that it feels almost frightening to be alone with my thoughts....and hurts more then anything not to feel his soul intertwined with my own. I feel like I've been ripped in two, a feeling that most likely will not leave me until my Yami returns....and chances are that won't be happening. Chances are the Reaper of Cards has claimed his soul by now....  
  
I winced, feeling a tear roll down my cheek. Quickly I whipped it away, and the next...and the next. Letting out a shuddering breath I thought about Yugi's Yami. My Yami had called him "The Pharaoh"...though it sounded like a curse when he said it. Obviously, the two were not exactly on friendly terms.  
  
He hadn't been keeping to a privet link so all his thoughts had flooded into my mind. He'd been raging in his mind over and over about him, however there was that spark of prideful joy that he was going to defeat the famed "King of Shadow Kings and of Ancient Egypt" all with but a few mortal souls. It was funny to him.  
  
But, in the end 'The Pharaoh' ended up winning, and my Yami's gone.....gone forever maybe now. Abruptly I felt the ring feel icy cold through my shirt and the feeling of someone staring at me made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. My muscles felt frozen as I sat there, adrenalin pumped through me with an unstoppable frenzy.  
  
An aura of darkness was nearly drowning me out from behind, my heart pounded loudly in my ears as I finally gathered enough of my wits to turn around and face my fate. What I saw I most definitely didn't expect. Spiky black hair that reflected in red the moonlight with unruly blonde bangs and crimson eyes harder then any gem stood staring at me unwaveringly.  
  
Fear drummed through still even though I could feel the adrenalin in my body beginning to thin out. Part of me urged me to trust him, the other part rejected fully. Not even at first glance could I mistake the figure before me as the Yugi who had been kind to me when everyone else had treated me as though I were invisible--well invisible unless I was in their way.  
  
I felt my eyes narrow, no this was not Yugi. This was his darker half, the Pharaoh, the one whom my Yami had hated with a passion.  
  
"Y-your Yugi's Yami, aren't you?"  
  
The second the question left my lips I cursed myself. I wouldn't blame him if he suddenly slapped me around like my Yami used to. At least this time i'd deserve it for being so stupid. Not to mention I'd stuttered. A weakness that my Yami had seen like a violation before god's very eyes. For that was being weak--and their was nothing my Yami despised more then weakness.  
  
The once Pharaoh's gaze was vacant for a moment as he walked toward me. Just like before adrenalin started through me at more peaceful pump. His movements were sleek and unconcerned--as though the earth were made for only him to grace with his presence. And perhaps in a sense he deserved it. He had been a Pharaoh after all, ruled over thousands....he'd probably been born to walk that way....not it wasn't really walking....more like a floating grace that could not be described. God, what am I thinking? If he knew what I was thinking right now he'd probably throw me right off the side of this cliff!  
  
He nodded at me slightly answering my question perhaps, an amused expression toke his timeless features as he made his way next to me. Crimson eyes bore through me, seeing everything in me, all my secrets and my every lie. Yet...it wasn't exactly an uncomfortable feeling.  
  
I hesitated slightly as he sat down, wanting to ask but fearing the consequences if I did so. I glanced at him skittishly, my eyes darting over his perfectly angular face and finely boned features before darting away just as quickly; shame filling me for daring to look. It wasn't right to look him in the eye. He was a Yami, just like my own in a way.....it wasn't wise to look him the eye probably....Pain, pain, and more pain was all that had given me when I dared to look my own darker half in the eyes.  
  
Still.....just this one question....just this one...  
  
"You...."I paused, fearing to go on. Taking a deep breath I forced myself to go on,"You, must b-be the Pharaoh my Yami was ranting about through our Soul Link during the duel in the Shadow Realm, ne?"  
  
A small frown toke the firm lips of the ancient boy before me. His expression locked slightly between anger, sadness, pity, and many other emotions that flew through his body language easily...each one serving to confuse me and make worry rise in me since I was the one that had arouse such emotions.  
  
A dark eyebrow arched,"I was a Pharaoh....long ago."he admitted softly, his tight-lipped expression showing the really didn't wish to go into the subject. Abruptly he smirked slightly,"Your own Yami was a Tomb Robber back then, one of the more notaries ones."  
  
I felt a shadow of a smile fall across me. I knew that, my Yami hadn't exactly kept it a secret. He'd been so prideful about it really, when he'd watched t.v. for one of the first times and their had been a movie called "The Mummy" my Yami had sat and pointed out every mistake they made about the Tombs and the secret ways to get through. And also how stupid most of the actors were on their not to have seen the traps before hand.  
  
It had come to the point when I had actually prayed shows from Ancient Egypt with Tomb Robbers would come on because he usually would leave me alone those nights. Pathetic, aren't I? Needless to say really, God didn't answer my prayers for shows like that rarely came on...  
  
Despite my inner thoughts I nodded to the Pharaoh, my eyes flickering to him then back to the night sky,"I know...He....He was very...prideful I suppose about that little factor. Saying that you and your guards couldn't have caught him if he'd walked right into the throne room with all of lout from varies raids."  
  
I glanced back over at the once-Pharaoh, bitting my lip at the annoyed expression that crossed his features. I curled my fingers around the Sennen Ring nervously. Maybe I had gone too far by mentioning my Yami's comment....What if the Pharaoh's angry with me now? I was so wrapped up in my own beratings I nearly missed his words as he began to speak. His smooth baritone voice was like a musical drug.  
  
"Why do you still wear the Ring?"I looked up at him, noticing instantly his narrowed crimson eyes,"Your Yami has no power over you now, you can remove it and toss it into the sea below if you wished."  
  
His passionless words made my hands curl around the golden Ring protectively. Throw it away? I can't...even if I tried...I just can't..."No...He...He may be gone...b-but"I stammered slightly, feeling my heart thud hard in my chest and tears blurred my vision turning the world a mixture of fuzzy darkened colors and shapes,"It doesn't feel like...it"I continued, feeling an urge to tell him everything, no one had listened like this for so long....no one had ever -cared-,"...and besides.....it was a gift fro my father....and...every time I've ever thought or tried to get rid of it, it always pulls me back and the urge to put it on is...too strong.."I tried to shrug, as though it didn't bother me.  
  
But god, it did. It truly did. I hated it, I hate this incompleteness....I hate that i'm hanging onto the Ring in hopes my Yami will return so this emptiness inside me will go away. So my Soul will no longer feel as though its been ripped in half.  
  
"It hurts, you know?"I said softly, no matter what may happen I had to tell him...It had been so long since anyone had taken the time to talk...and listen to me...I can't keep it all inside...I just can't.....  
  
I rested my head on my knees, staring out at the darkened sky as He made a questioning sound.  
  
"....Having him gone.."I paused, it was now or never...,".....It....It feels like I've been ripped in half......like....a part of me is missing and it'll never be returned."It felt so great to say those words aloud...so very good...  
  
I glanced over at him, feeling remarkably small and weak as I did so. He nodded, his expression accepting. I felt like a weight had just been lifted from me.  
  
"He was your other half...."The once-Pharaoh said softly,"....its not unlikely that you would feel that way...but..."he paused, as though searching for the right words,"It had to be done, Ryou"My name sounded so precious from his lips....like...it was worth something...Like *I'm* worth something,"You know that.....otherwise, you wouldn't have helped us during the Shadow Game."  
  
I winced at the memory, closing my eyes in rememberence as I responded,"Yes....I know...but it doesn't make it all that much easier."  
  
Silence followed my words and I wrapped my arms tighter around my legs. It did feel good to finally talk to someone, to really talk that is. To be able to tell them the things that haunted me at every moment--it felt so relieving....but at the same time...I was worried...what...what if He suddenly stood and walked off? Leaveing me alone...Again....I really don't think I could handle that.  
  
Abruptly I felt briskly cold air great my backside, my shirt whipped up rather high. Fear hummed through me as I gasped loudly and whirled around, and scrambled a little ways backward, yanking down my shirt as I did so. Terror pounded through my every nerve as I stared up at the Ancient Spirt above me.  
  
Anger riveted off his form, a quick unyielding fury that made my blood drum loudly in my ears. Crimson eyes darted over my body, resting for a split second on my right wrist. I covered it quickly, staring up at him as he glared down at me...though I could tell the fury wasn't exactly -at- me...more or less at the marks that covered my back...  
  
"Who did this to you?"He asked, no demanded.  
  
He looked so god-like at that moment. In an instant I could imagine him in the flowing robes worthy of a King, giving orders that were never to be denied. Egyptians believed back then that their King was decendened/picked by the gods. Looking at him right now, I couldn't help but wonder for a split second if they were right. For he truly held the aura and appearance of one, and apparently the temper of one as well....  
  
Still, the anger he showed...it was too much like my own Yami before his frustration was vented onto me. I felt more tears filling my eyes and rolling down my checks as he stared down at me in a silent demand for an answer.  
  
I couldn't deny my Yami when he questioned me back then, why would I be strong enough to defy the god-like being that stood above me? I looked at his chin, not low enough to be defiance, not high enough to be tempted to meet his eyes and have that called insolence...I had learned little tips with my Yami about how to stay somewhat....intact...  
  
"M-my"I stammered uncertainly, fear and tears choking me as I spoke,"...M- my Yami did it...he...he was a-angry when I-I defied him about....about following you all to the Duelist Kingdom.....s-s-so He-h-he could try to s- steal the Puzzle...."  
  
Cautiously I rose my gaze higher to take in his expression. Fury. Compleat unrestrained fury, I flinched instantly and felt my body stiffening for a pain I knew was soon to come....  
  
Abruptly his expression softened, becoming almost....guilty?  
  
"How..."he swallowed, his expression sad, and inner-reproachful."How long have you worn the Ring?"  
  
I closed my eyes at the question, feeling a tear roll down my cheek as I did so. Quickly I whipped it away, silently gathering my shattered strength as I opened my eyes and returned my gaze to the Game King before me.  
  
My eyes flickered upward against my will to meet his, looking away quickly from those deep crimson orbs I responded softly,"....Five years..."  
  
Silence nearly swallowed us whole until he finally responded, his voice sounding oddly caught and strained.  
  
"Have...you ever told anyone about what he was doing?"  
  
I nearly laughed brokenly at his words. Told someone? -Told someone-? Who? Who would listen? No one had ever cared about me, no one probably ever will...like my yami said...I'm just not worth it. Not worth anyones time...  
  
I shook my head slowly, shame filling me at the mere admittance. I am no one, and I am nothing.....as my Yami once said:"I'm worthy of being his slave...and barely that." Maybe....maybe he was right.....Tears builded higher in my eyes and rolled down without warning, my throat burned with repressed sobs as I drew my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms tightly around them; trying my hardest to make myself as small as possible.  
  
Despite how hard I was trying to bite back the sobs they exploded from my chest, choking out loudly into the night air. Abruptly I felt to arms wrap gently around me. I tensed for a moment, trembling fiercely in his grip before abandoning ship and burying my face into his chest. God, I don't care what happens to me later on...but please....please let me have this one moment....this one moment of comfort...that is all I ask....  
  
I sobbed against him, no longer holding back as he tightened his grip reassuringly around me. I sunk greedily against him, knowing it was probably the only time in my life someone would be holding me so close....knowing this is probably the only moment since before my mother died that I'm feeling safe....and cared for....  
  
It had been so long since anyone had held me like this...that I'd almost forgotten what it felt like......what it felt like to be so cared for without bounds...it was so warm....and comforting....and for a moment I didn't feel so broken. So weak, so unworthy of everything. For an instant the pain in my soul was gone, filled with a love.....love?  
  
Could I love? Did I even have such a capacity? Did I love the boy that held me in his arms? Maybe....but I'd only just really meet him...but then, he is the only one that ever really listened to me in so long....that finally held me close...  
  
After a while I felt the tears stop, and I breathed shakily in the crimson scent that surrounded him. So spicily sweet...  
  
I didn't bother to move from his embrace, reveling in feeling him hold me so close. No matter what happens now, at least I'll always have this  
  
moment to recall...the moment when someone finally, even if only a little, cared about me....  
  
I looked up at the Game King, for once not feeling fear for doing so. He was smiling slightly down at me...I felt hope kindle through me making me smile back at him. He smiled at me.....its been a long time since that happened....  
  
I studied his expression with a touch of wariness still, he had been so kind to me that I didn't want to burden him with holding me if he'd rather pull away....  
  
He didn't though, just kept staring into my eyes.....and I couldn't bring myself to look away....though..in a way I didn't really want to. That warm feeling inside of me rose to high boil as I studied the finely boned features of the god-like being that held me so close. High elfin like cheekbones, slightly narrowed crimson eyes that glowed with knowlage and emotions felt deeper then many. His lips were a full, lustrous red.  
  
Suddenly I felt my breath go short and I wanted to kiss him more then anything. The feeling surprised me really......I'd never kissed anyone before...never really had any time to think about that kind of stuff. But right then....That's all I wanted....I wanted him to kiss me, to hold me, to make me his and never ever leave me....  
  
....But then, what did I have to offer him? Nothing really, I'm just a pale boy with plain brown eyes and whiter hair....nothing special...nothing really that unique. I'm so average....and he's so unique.....how could I ever be worthy of that? Yugi would be far more worthy of him then I could ever be...  
  
I wrapped my arms more snuggly around him. I could never have him for my own......so for just this one moment....I'm going to hold onto him. Hold on to what in a thousand life times I could never be worthy for....for just one moment, He was mine....  
  
  
  
  
  
A.n.-Well, what didja all think of it? I hope ya liked it^_^Hehe:)Don't forget to review^_^Oh, and also I used spell-cheak on this chapter and the first one since some of ya mentioned I had errors.....hope its easier to read now:)^_~  
  
Also, cheak out: http://www.nocturnalsoldier.org/yugioh.html for some info on Fanfic.net's new policy and also a new idea for Yu-Gi-Oh fics and pics...lemony stuff y'know...the stuff Fanfic.net has BANNED*growl*....newaz, go there...cheak it out...its pretty cool, promise^_~hehe:)  
  
Ja ne 


	3. Yugioh's POV

A.n.-Mm, well ya'all wanted 'another chap 'n here it is^_^Hehe, I hope you like it^_^This chap's in Yami's p.o.v. Takes place not long after they've made it into the castle, but before the duel between Yugi and Mai. Takes place during the night, a little while after Bakura-chan has erased everyone's memory about what had happened. Enjoy the fic.  
  
  
Dedication-Aznsilhouette247, Silver Dragon, Digital-Freak, Bronze Eagle, Rainbowscale, DADORK, Dilanda, Katya, Beverly, Yami's Aibou, and Elvenmage22, and anyone I missed arigatou!^_~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
I walked silently through the multible hallways of Pegsuses castle. My Hikari was currently asleep in his bed, but I was feeling far to restless to remain in my Soul Room. I wasn't overly worried about being seen really. So I felt like taking a little walk, what were Pegasus and his goons going to do about it?  
  
Sighing slightly I walked toward a balcony that was near the lobby. I'd seen it through Yugi's eyes before, it had a marvelous view. Much like my own Palas rooms once had....Shaking my head slightly to ward off the sudden home-sickness that was fast washing over me I quickened my pace. My skin was crawling though, with the sudden abudence of Shadow Magic that was smoothering the entire island.  
  
I'd felt the subtle shift in the Shadow Realm as well a few hours before. A sudden, tiny tear in that little reality. Something I'm sure that blasted Tomb Robber toke advantage of. His mark is floating through this entire palace. He's looking for something...or someone. Either my Aibou or Pegasus. One or the other. Should he try to lay a hand on the former though then he'll writheing in torment for the next five thousand years or so.  
  
I ran a hand through my hair with a sigh, my thoughts abruptly turning toward the silver haired youth called Ryou. He hadn't been as distant after the night we'd shared at the Duelist Kingdom. I'd been keeping an eye on him through my Abiou's eyes and whenever I could spare the attention in a Duel.   
  
Supriseingly he hadn' t looked as horrified as the others when i'd nearly killed Kaiba to win the Duel. Shocked? Most likely. Horrified by all resonable thought? No. Not at all. Though I soppose liveing for five years as the Hikari of a Tomb Robber the concept of death wouldn't horrify him that much. Esspeicaly when he'd already tried that way out of this world.  
  
I winced slightly at the memory of his scarred wrist. Such a gentel soul...marred by such malevolence yet untouched at the same time. As I neared the balcony I saw a lone silver haired figure standing slouched over it. Ryou....the very object of my thoughts right before me. Ra must be feeling kind...  
  
I felt my eyes narrow as I noticed his shoulders were shakeing silghtly, the sound of slightly supressed sobs rung in the air. I walked soundlessly toward him, not wanting him to know of my precence just yet. The scean was fammiler. Much like his momentarl breakdown in the forests of the Duelist Kingdom. What had happened now? What had brought my silver-haired tenchie to tears?  
  
Abruptly I saw him tense, his shoulders hunching over slightly as he wirled around, his hands braceing behind him against the banister. Chocolate brown eyes riveted terror as they settled on me. They darted everywhere but my face, his hand going up to touch the Sennen Ring before dropeing away.   
  
Abruptly his sobs ceased, his eyes hardening abruptly into mere slits of cruel malice. His stance straitened, his arms crossing as a smirk of boiling rage appeared. His hair lengthened slightly, becomeing more wild around his tear-dropped face. He whiped them away with the back of his hand, those molten lava filled eyes never let my own.  
  
"If it isn't the Ra-damned Pharaoh."he sneered.  
  
"Soul Stealer!"I growled,"I should have known you'd be back."  
  
Yes, I should have expected it. Should have *prepared* for it. As much as I hate it, he -is- Ryou's other half...his Yami...the other half of his soul. Once a Yami and Hikari find eachother you can't keep them apart. It cannot be done. I was a fool to think that it would. A fool to give Ryou the false comfert that his Yami would never return.  
  
But was it comfert really? He said himself that he missed him harshly. That he wanted him back despite all the pain that he had been givein. The image of the bruises across his back flashed in my minds eye and I felt my hands clinch into fists.  
  
"You should of."he responded.  
  
I felt my eyes narrow into mere slits. I couldn't help the anger that was steadily riseing in me, my hand itched to raise up so I could say the words and send him back to the Shadow Realm. But.....Ryou's face flashed in my minds eye. His tear-stained face...and I couldn't do it. Couldn't ripp the completion I knew was riviteing through him simply becouse I wanted him safe.  
  
I had tore him from his other without his consent last time. Without his plead for me to do it, I couldn't do it again. It wouldn't work anyway. The blasted Tomb Robber would find a way around it. I know he would, the bastard. Once a Hikari and Yami found eachother they were inseperable. Seperate them by some stroke of luck and they will always find eachother once more. Its as simple as that.   
  
"You haven't changed at all, *Pharaoh*"he sneered, mocking my former tital cruely.  
  
I bristled in an instant, feeling my lips curl up in a sneer at his words.,"Neither have you, Tomb Robber. All though, atleast I've learned from my mistakes back then. You, it appears, still run around stealing from others."  
  
He laughed suddenly. The sound harsh and manicle,"You *dare* accuse me of stealing, *Pharaoh*? I'm trying to gather the Items, yes, but I'm not the one running about seduceing and trying to steal other's Hikaris."He growled.  
  
What in the......Ryou. He was talking about Ryou......  
  
I felt myself pale, my hands clinching so hard I think I broke the skin, as I fought to keep my expression blank,"I don't know what your talking about."  
  
He walked closer to me, his face inches from me,"You don't know what I'm talking about, *Pharaoh*?"he spat my title, his eyes narrowed in a malevelont glaze. A glossy brown of near insanity they appeared, yet a glimmer of something unidentiable gleamed in his gaze...  
  
He sneered at me once more and pushed me up against the wall, his hands resting on either side of my head. I did nothing, simply stared at him coldly. I would not be intimenated by the likes of him. Never him. A part of me shifted uncomfertbly, a spark of fear riseing within me. I squashed the emotion quickly. Abruptly another thought entered my mind, was that sprinkle of fear only a tast of how Ryou felt when cornered? How he felt whenever his Yami was near? The thought made a blaze of anger brush through me and I glared up at him.  
  
Bakura's expression faltered for a moment before becomeing a mask of utter loatheing.   
  
"I'll enlighten you."he hissed, his face nearing mine,"I know what you did after you sent me to the Shadow Realm, *Pharaoh*. The boy is MINE. Were not in Egypt five thousand years go anymore. He's mine. He will always be mine. And I. Don't. Share."his nose was practicly touching mine as he spat the words, his breath was warm on my face...his eyes alive with a feirce fire of the deepest heat.  
  
A blinding possesiveness was evident on the Tomb Robber's face as he stared at me. I shifted my stance in what I hoped was in a unconcerned manner. I let my eyelids drop slightly, trying to convey boredom through my gaze even as my heart was thundering loudly in my chest.   
  
"Are you done, Soul Stealer? Why do you care so much about Ryou? From what I saw you treat him as less then a common slave!"I felt a firey anger erupt through me as the memory of the multible scars and brusies on Ryou's back popped vividly in my mind.   
  
I glared at the once Tomb Robber, I could feel the sign of the Ra burning on my forehead. A mark of my current emotion and my Shadow Powers...as well as a reminding mark of the Pharaoh I once was...still am in some ways perhapes. I watched as Bakura's expression faltered slightly, his eyes widening in suprise then fadeing away into a defensive anger as he dropped his arms away from the sides of my head and crossed them instead. He shifted his stance unconcerndly, a sleek grace flowing through his movements in a way that captured the eye.  
  
"What are you talking about, *Pharaoh*?"he sneered my title as usule. A simple thing I was quickly loseing patience with.  
  
"You know what I'm talking about. How could you do that to him?! His your *HIKARI* for Ra's sake!"I snapped.   
  
His face paled slightly, dimond hard brown eyes narrowing slightly as an emotion passed through his eyes that looked almost like....guilt?  
  
"I did what I had to do. The boy's weak."  
  
Shock swept through me, riotouse fury bursting through me at lightning pace.   
  
"He is NOT weak."  
  
The Tomb Robber snorted slightly,"Whatever *Pharaoh*. I just came here to tell you to stay away from MY Hikari."  
  
"And if I don't?"  
  
Icy brown eyes of infinet cruelty narrowed as he moved his face closer to mine, his lips hovering just above mine,"Remember that your "loyal" gaurds aren't with you now and there are many ways I can break you into a thousand peices without killing you or sealing you in the Shadow Realm."he said lowly, his lips curving upward.  
  
As though to prove his point he pressed his lips chastly against mine before pulling away. Smirking widely at the expression of suprise, anger and even...fear that I'm sure crossed my face he turned and walked away. I let him go, unable to even move from where I stood. Knowing full well what he had implied by that manevour.  
  
I licked my lips nervously and walked over to the edge of the balcony. What to do? I'm not exactly afraid of the Tomb Robber, no thats not completely it. He'd suprised me right then but I could defeat him if forced into a battle. I wasn't exactly worried about what he would do to *me* exactly...but Ryou...I'm sure that Tomb Robber's ordered him to stay as far as possible away from me as well. And to defy them...  
  
I felt my eyes narrow. No. If I see so much as one more mark on Ryou...I won't be responsible for my actions. I'll do worse then kill him. I'll ripp him in two and enjoy every damn minute of it. I moistened my lips slightly and teleported back to my Soul Room. I payed little mind to the twisting Labyrinthine ways of my room before waveing my hand to turn it to something more fitting.  
  
The room changed in an instant to a place glittering with gold and silver. The floor was stone still but with plush ruggs thrown across it, the walls decorated and shining with varies golden artifacts and symbols. Though my memory had faded, I knew the replica room I'd created was similer to what I'd had when I'd been Pharaoh...  
  
Sighing, I walked lazily over to my bed and flopped down onto it. Soft pillows yeilded under my lilthe form, silken sheets pressed tauntinly against my skin. My garments had changed from the leather outfit to a black silk robe; black was mainly to suit my mood. My ears felt slightly heavy from the gold earings that hung from them.   
  
I ran my fingers across the Sennen Puzzle, I missed the old days in Ancient Egypt. If this were there I could just sentance the Tomb Robber to death then covet Ryou as my own. That was then and this is now though. *Sigh*, things are so much more complicated here really. I chewed my bottem lip thoughtfully. If the Tomb Robber thought he could intimidate me he had another thing comeing....but then again...  
  
I still had to worry about my Aibou and his friends. That Tomb Robber didn't have any real scruples so chances are he would use them against me. My Aibou's soft amythest colored eyes flashed across my mind and I felt my hands clinch into fists around the soft covers beneith me. The Tomb Robber would break him without a secoud thought really. Without any guilt or shame.   
  
He knows that I care for Yuugi and would hurt him just to get to me if I didn't obey him on the subject of Ryou.What to do really? I don't want to let Ryou go...and certinely not to that monster thats his Yami...but to risk my Aibou...I don't know if I can do that. To willingly put him in danger...I can't...I simply can't...he's my Hikari...I just...  
  
I snorted slightly at myself. Here I had sworn I would protect Ryou and here I am simply going to let him go. No. I can't do that...right? I shook my head angrily and rolled over my side. I didn't know what to do. Damnation, why did that Tomb Robber have to come back? Why couldn't the Reaper of Cards simply of claimed his soul for eternity?! Why did Ryou have to recieve the Ring at all really?!  
  
I sighed again. At least I knew the answer to that question. Ryou was destined for the Ring the same as my Aibou had been the one choosen my fate to put together the Puzzle. And no matter how much I want to change the former I can't. Ryou's the Hikari of the Tomb Robber....the same as Yuugi is my own Hikari.   
  
My eyes burned and I raised my hand to my cheeks to find...tears? I cried? I haven't cried in...Ra, its been so long....  
  
I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Though it hurt to say it...I would have to let Ryou go...if only for the safety of others...but that didn't mean the blasted Tomb Robber had won...no, I would watch over him from afare...for now...thats all I can really do...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A.n.-I know, I know.....extremly, extremly short...but...Yami's kinda hard to write for in a way....Ryou-chan and Bakura-chan come more easily to me then Yami does for some reason...however, I hope you enjoyed this chappie...I'm thinking of writeing Bakura-chan's p.o.v. of this next but I dunno...depends on whether ya'all review!^_~hehe, I promise if my muse stays the same it'll be longer then this....^_~review onegai!:) 


	4. Bakura's POV

A.n.-Gomen for the lateness on this chappie...I've been kinda distracted lately for some reason. I hope you  
like the chappie though ^_^ Gomen to R Amythest who  
wanted this chappie to be in Ryou-chan's p.o.v. I went  
for the Bakura-chan's, gomen-ne. The next chappie  
though I could show Ryou-chan's remembering onto this  
moment if ya want, kay?^_^  
  
Thanks to R Amythest for editeing this chappie for me btw^_^  
  
Dedication- Katy999, Fate, ShadowRealmDemon, Fyrdera,  
Loanshark, Lynn-chan, Bronze Eagle, Carrie Starfire, R  
Amythest, Fani90, Rina Starfire, Weird, Dilanda, and  
CrYsTaLdRaYgOn98. Domo arigato minna!^_~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
I was furious.  
  
I've never been this angry in more then a thousand years.   
  
How dare he... how dare that pompous Pharaoh do this to me...  
  
Ryou is mine.   
  
He will always be mine. He is MY Hikari. Mine and mine alone. He and I are one and the same, our souls mated together deeper then any mere mortal could possibly comprehend. He completes me, and I, him. Apart we are nothing, together we're everything. And that bastard of a Pharaoh *dared* to touch what is mine.  
  
I'm not as naive as my girly little aibou. Reading his memories I can see the lust in his eyes. See exactly what he wants from Ryou. Of course my Hikari doesn't see it. He's too innocent. Too trusting. To freakin' weak to see what the Pharaoh was doing. Trying to lull him into a false sense of security without me there to turn him against me then take my innocent one to his bed.  
  
I'm no fool. I can see it. And I don't share what?s mine. Especially not with *THE PHARAOH* of all freakin' people. I didn't expect this to happen. Though perhaps I should have. Should have seen that the arrogant ass would make a move on my hikari. Why wouldn't he? Ryou  
is beautiful. His innocence attracts darkness like a moth to a flame. And Ra knows that the pharaoh is a Yami. The very entity of darkness like me.   
  
The innocence of a Hikari all depends on how dark the Yami himself is. Ever wonder why the Pharaoh's brat Yuugi is so carefree and naive? Yugioh was a *PHARAOH* of course his Hikari would be like this. Not to say I didn't do things just as bad, if not worse, things then that arrogant ass. Ryou at times is more innocent then Yuugi. He's just more... reserved then the Pharaoh's brat... mostly my doing I suppose.  
  
But I did what I had to do. I'm his Yami, his protector none the less. Hmp. I'd of never thought I'd find myself in this position. Protecting a weakling. But he's MY weakling and that makes all the difference. We are one, if he were to die then so would I and vice versa. I was trying to toughen him up. Ra knows the boy needs it. He's too trusting. Too kind. Too forgiving.  
  
Weakness... each and every one of those traits is the very core of weakness.   
  
I couldn't allow it. Wouldn't dare it. Maybe I went too far...but it was all for his own good. And on a level Ryou knows that. I did only what I had to do to keep him safe. He *is* weak. He *is* frail. And in more ways then one he is like a curse to me. A bitter irony that Ra has played upon me. Through the centuries I spent in the Ring awaiting the one that would awaken me I had pictured him to be a strong being, one that would aid me without question in my quest for the Sennen Items.  
  
I was wrong.   
  
Ryou isn't strong, not in a physical sense that is. Mentally he's nearly as strong as me. Who else could take the pain I've bestowed without fighting back or calling on the help of others? His tolerance for pain is far below my own, but I suppose its higher then the simpering mortals he's surrounds himself with. He's so-called "friends" thats is.   
  
While Ryou does have unusually high mental capabilities, insults have a way of hurting him more then fists could ever do. Flesh wounds heal, words do not. I've always known that. Ryou's greatest weakness is another?s words. A simple thing really. I thought I could take him down then re-build him into an image that would withstand the world?s endless cruelty. A more difficult feat then possibly imagined. He's my hikari. The exact opposite of me in every way. He is light and I am dark. Together we are one, apart neither of us can survive. I won't deny that the completeness swirling through my very soul is bliss. The first real happiness I've felt in so very long....  
  
But that?s exactly why I hurt him.  
  
It scares me, that purity of his. That unstaggering belief that there is good in all. Even me. Maybe that's why he doesn't see the lust shining in Yugioh's gaze. I see it. But then, I'm nowhere near as blind as my Hikari is. I sighed heavily and leaned against the wall. It fascinates me though...That innocence of his.  
  
Not as sickenly pure as the *Pharaoh's* brat Yuugi, but just perfect. So blindingly perfect. That cool soothing light of his makes my very soul tingle with an unknown emotion. And in many ways I don't want him to be strong as I constantly try to build him up to be. I'm a fickle bastard aren't I? One minute, wanting him strong, the next, weak.  
  
Besides... if he was strong, he wouldn't need me any more and mayhaps would find a way to get rid of me...the thought is nearly too much for me to bear. I want him as my loyal accomplice... maybe more later on in the future....  
  
I shook my head slightly, narrowing my eyes. This wasn't the time to dwell upon idle fantasies. Yugioh is making a move on the only being in this Ra-forsaken world that means a damn to me and I'm not going to allow him to do it. This isn't Egypt, this is the new world, and I have never shared that which rightfully belongs to me. Ever.  
  
Ryou is mine, he will always be mine. That blasted Pharaoh cannot, and will not, have him. I won't let him, damn it!  
  
I crossed my arms and glared over at my said Hikari who was currently sitting on the bed, twisting his fingers together in nervousness as he avoided looking over at me. On a distant level it tore at me that he feared me. That those glorious orbs held such emotion for me. Despite the popular belief that his so-called "friends" believe, I do care about him beyond being a vessel to obtain the Sennen Items... frightening as it  
may seem.   
  
But then again, I don't care what those baka mortals think of me. When I have all the Items they'll all pay for their blindness anyway...and there allegiance to that ruby-eyed bastard of a *pharaoh*!  
  
"You are to stay away from the *pharaoh*, hikari," I ordered, my fury making my voice jaded and cold.  
  
He flinched slightly... another weakness to add to the numerous ones he already has. It appears that while I was gone my Hikari has begun to return to his weakling ways... unacceptable.   
  
Suddenly I saw an image fly through our link. Yugioh staring down into Ryou's eyes, his arms wrapped possessively around MY hikari. Rage of the purest fire erupted in my chest as I clinched my hands into fists and I walked over to him, lifting the startled boy up by his collar of his shirt I slammed him hard up against the wall.   
  
Tears pricked at his eyes and for the barest of a second I felt my anger falter. No! No, I had to be strong. I had to save him from himself...and from that Ra damned *pharaoh*. I wouldn't allow him to strip my own hikari of all he is, never.   
  
I leaned my face up close to his, half expecting him to flinch and try to get away. My Hikari hates close contact like this. Hates to be cornered with no chance of escape whatsoever. It?s maddening to him. And forgive me Ra for using that against him but I don't have a choice anymore. The pharaoh would disgrace him, use him for his own lustful needs before tossing him away like nothing.   
  
And it'll be a cold day in hell before I allow that to happen.   
  
The only one allowed to hurt my Hikari in any way is ME damn it!  
  
Ryou's will buckled with pathetic ease beneath my grasp; his small frame pushing as far into the wall as   
was possible... For the barest of an instant I felt guilt well its way up into my soul. I hate it when he looks at me like that. So fearful. So afraid to meet even the other half of his soul's gaze. But what must be done, must be done.   
  
I lifted his chin with my finger harshly, forcing him to look me in the eye. Intensely pure orbs stared there way at me. Making me for the barest of a second falter once more in my cause. I didn't want to hurt him, but in time I know he'll understand. The thought firm in mind I glared down at my gentler half, searching through his emotions and thoughts as the *pharaoh* had held him close.   
  
What I saw was like having a rusted dagger slammed into my chest. Pain frazzled my senses with disbelief. He'd liked it! By Ra, he'd *enjoyed* it! How could he be so freakin' stupid as not see what I saw dwelling in the *Pharaoh's* eyes!? He'd actually wanted Yugioh   
to have his way with him?   
  
What in the hell had happened while I was away? I wasn't gone that freakin' long! How could my sweet Aibou become corrupted in such a short amount of time?!   
  
I narrowed my eyes coldly at him, "You think he cares about you, aibou? You want to be the *pharaoh's* little slut is that it!?" Through my short tirade I'd moved my face closer to his, my nose practically touching his as I glared searchingly into those   
doe-like eyes.   
  
"N-no..." He squirmed in my grasp, feebly trying to escape me. "Ya-Yami-sama...leh-let me-me go...oh-onegai..."   
  
I laughed coldly in a way I knew would send shivers through him. As expected his small frame trembled in my grasp, his eyes widening as he tried to figure out what I had in store for him. Trying to measure by my voice how much pain he was going to be in for his actions during the Shadow Game and for running straight into the pharaoh's arms while I was trapped away.   
  
I clinched my hands tighter around the rough cloth of his sweater. I never could understand why he wore the damn things. They were exceedingly uncomfortable. I smirked and tossed him off to the side making him land hard on the wooden ground. I'd thrown him at and angle though so as not to add more pain to his back. I'd seen the agony in his eyes when I'd slammed him against the wall...apparently his bruises from back in Domino have yet to heal completely.   
  
Even I can show mercy upon him once in a while. When I deem it necessary.  
  
Even still a small groan escaped his lips as he rolled over and started to sit up, cradling his left arm that had broken his fall. I pounced on top of him, straddling his hips and pinning his wrists above his head with one hand. I sneered down at his futile attempts of escape before he finally just lay rigid beneath me.   
  
His breath came in shallow gasps, his face becoming considerably paler as he stared up at me. Innocent chocolate brown eyes stopped about my chin and neither rose nor lowered any higher. I stared down mercilessly at him, curling my lips up into a mocking sneer.   
  
"What?s the matter *hikari*? Are you frightened now? You weren't so scared when it was the *pharaoh* holding you. What?s the difference, hikari?" I drawled.   
  
He stiffened, his breath catching for but a moment. I relaxed slightly, running a finger down the satin skin of my aibou's cheek. Unwillingly I gave into the urge to be gentle with him... to sink into the soft fragrant beauty that was my Ryou. I glanced down skittishly at my Ryou. Confusion was raging through my lighter half's thoughts.   
  
His eyes had dropped slightly, his body almost relaxing beneath me but not quite. I could feel the fear creeping into his mind that I was simply trying to get him to let down his guard so I could strike him unaware. He was right, but not for that reason. I would love it if my Hikari would look at me with the love and trust that I know that *pharaoh* gets from his brat.   
  
The remembrance of the *pharaoh* made me force back what little compassion I felt in the moment. I was filled with the urge to rip the tainted touch of that ruby-eyed bastard's touch of my hikari as I scrapped my nails hard into his cheek, hard enough to cause pain but not enough to draw blood. He cried out, crystalline tears falling down.   
  
"Slut," I hissed cruelly.   
  
More tears ran down as he stared broken down at me, before doing the unthinkable. He pushed me off himwith strength I didn't know he possessed. I fell back on my rump, mostly from surprise I believe. He rose quickly, staring at me with a trembling defense that   
withered instantly against the glare I threw at him.   
  
Pity left me as a blinding rage filled me. I was trying to help him. How dare he try that! The *pharaoh* obviously had more influence on him then I thought. He backed away before making a run to the door. I didn't bother to stop him and laughed as he ran down the hallways. I rose slowly, dusting off my pants and walked to find him.   
  
He can't escape me.   
  
Reaching out, I read his mind. He was scared, running blindly. He wasn't going for the *pharaoh* though, believing that more pain would come of it then his running from me will. He's right on that, looks like the boy does have a spark of sense in his naive mind. I walked slowly after him, knowing I could have simply entered the Ring and then appeared out of it where he was, but I didn't want to do that.   
  
It was better to prolong his punishment, maybe not better for him but better for me. Abruptly I felt the *pharaoh*'s face flash through our mind link. Ryou had yet to master the ability to block me, even if he tried it would be a useless endeavor. Narrowing my eyes I succumbed to the presence of the Ring and threw open my Soul Room and shoved my weakling Hikari into his before taking control of the body.   
  
//Onegai...Don't hurt him Yami...onegai!//  
  
/Urusei, *Hikari*./ I drawled /You should be more worried about yourself anyway//  
  
I felt fear flow through me and rolling my eyes slightly I exerting some pressure onto his mind. Forcing it into slumber. I didn't want him to try and interfere when I faced Yugioh.  
  
I opened my eyes and turned my burning gaze onto him. He was staring at me with a mixture of horror and shock. Apparently the *pharaoh* thought he had banished me for all eternity into the Shadow Room. Baka. I hate to blow my cover like this but he's probably felt my presence by now and if he thinks I'll stand by why he tries to steal MY Hikari he's got another thing coming!  
  
I straightened my stance, feeling the subtle changes in his body as I took control. I whipped his tear-drops away with a scornful flick of the back of my hand. I smirked arrogantly, knowing my off-hand manner was probably making his blood boil.   
  
"If it isn't the Ra-damned *pharaoh*," I sneered.  
  
"Soul Stealer! I should have known you'd be back!" He snapped, anger coloring his tone as those regal ruby eyes flared up.  
  
Always the ever righteous, holier-then-thou *pharaoh*, isn't he? I tapped lightly into my Shadow Powers as I felt his own rise slightly. If he thought he was going to try to send me back to that hellish place he's got another thing coming. He doesn't know what its like to be suddenly ripped from your lighter half in a single second.   
  
The madness that poisons your very essence as you lay trapped with no hope for the future. I won't go back to that ever again. I won't.   
  
"You should of, *pharaoh*," I responed with a mocking lilt, knowing my insulting his former title would irk him to no end.  
  
And in truth, he should have known that I'd be back. Evil never dies, and there?s no use beating around the bush about that fact and I, like all Yamis, am evil. We're simply pure in that respect. As our Hikari's are the essence of light, we are the essence of the Shadows. It can't be changed, and even if I could I wouldn't.   
  
I felt my smirk widen as the *pharaoh* bristled under my words before trying to cover it with a smirk, "Neither have you, Tomb Robber." I felt my eye brow quirk up at that one. Ah, so he does remember my notorious acts during his rein after all... "Although, at least I've learned from my mistakes back then." --Hah, yeah right! I may have stolen things, you slaughtered poor saps in gruesome ways for less then treason that would have made my ol' Tomb Robbing partner proud...--"You, it appears, still run around stealing from others."  
  
I laughed then at last. A laugh of madness and harsh resolve. Me the thief? True, I haven't reformed my ways or whatever, but there are some line I don't cross. Like the Hikari line for one.   
  
"You *dare* accuse me of stealing, *Pharaoh*?" I hissed, vengeful anger sparking through me, "I'm trying to gather the Items, yes, but I?m not the one running about seducing and trying to steal other's Hikaris!"  
  
I watched confusion play its way across his features before they paled. His hand clinched together hard as his teeth gritted together as he tried to keep the fiasco of being calm together. I see right through you, Yugioh. Just like back then. You're not as benevolent as everyone thinks you are and I know it."  
  
"I don't know what you?re talking about," he said firmly, having the audacity to try to lie to ME with a strait face. Hah, like it?s going to do him any good.  
  
I walked closer to him, my face getting closer to his. I could literally feel his soft breath on me as I   
spoke, cold hard rage erupting in my choice with every second.   
  
"You don't know what I'm talking about, *Pharaoh*?" I felt my eyes narrow at the malevolence I felt, watching a spark of fear fly through those ruby orbs before being squashed into nothing.  
  
I sneered again and pushed him against the wall, resting my hands on either side of his head. Remembrance filled me. My Ryou had been in this  
position only a few moments ago. And he hated being cornered...I wonder if the *pharaoh* has the same weakness...?  
  
I noticed in an instant the change in his body language beneath me. The subtle panic that flewthrough his limbs though he tried so hard to control it. But I could practically smell the fear on him...and the anger that he pulled onto to try and strengthen his resolve.  
  
The once *pharaoh* glared up at me, a blaze of fury burning in his blood red eyes. I felt my expressionfalter slightly, I hated him but for a minute the anger in his eyes made me wonder if I really might go to the Shadow Realm for threatening him. I couldn't stand to be ripped from my Ryou again...   
  
I pulled but my shattered confidence and drew on my utter hate for the being before me. Remembered all that he had taken from me so long ago. I hate him. I do. And I will make him pay for my hellish existence all those years ago. I swear it.   
  
"I'll enlighten you," I snarled, my face nearing his, "I know what you did after you sent me to the Shadow Realm *Pharaoh*." I spat, fury blazing down to the very core of my being, "The boy is MINE. We're not in Egypt five thousand years ago anymore. He's mine. Hewill always be mine. And I... Don't... Share..." My nose was practically touching his now, my flesh tingled with the hyper-sensitiveness I always felt when provoked to this sort of rage.  
  
Ryou is mine. He will always be mine. I'm possessive, I know it. And I don't give a damn. I will never let him go. He was born for me, he was born to lay in my arms. And that will never change. I watched the *Pharaoh* shift his stance slightly, his eye lids dropping slightly in an unconcerned manner like my words and my dominate position over him meant nothing.   
  
I know the truth though. I'd rattled him, I know I did. I could practically hear his heart beating franticly in his chest.  
  
"Are you done, Soul Stealer?" --Done?? I was far from done, stupid *pharaoh*-- "From what I saw you treat him as less then a common slave!" he yelled, his face pushing toward mine as his glare intensified. A mere mortal would have run from the fury in his gaze, but I'm no mere mortal and the *pharaoh* didn't scare me back then, and he doesn't now.   
  
I watched as the Sennen Eye appeared on his forehead with surprise, marking of his powers and his position as the once *pharaoh*. I symbol of his I hated with all my might. It was a reminder of all I wished to forget and avenge.   
  
I dropped my arms away from him and crossed them across my chest. I shifted my stance unconcernedly, looking with a passive smirk at his display of power. A fight of Shadow Magic between us would be rather entertaining...   
  
Still...what did he mean about my treating my Hikari as less then a common slave? I'd only been helping him. What had my Ryou told him? What?   
  
"What are you talking about, *pharaoh*?" I sneered his title again, watching with amusement as he bristled once more from the insult.   
  
"You know what I'm talking about. How could you do that to him?! He's your *HIKARI* for Ra's sake!" he snapped.   
  
I felt the blood rush from my face at the remembrance, my eyes narrowing slightly as guilt swept through me.I was harsh because I had to be. I didn't want to hurt my Ryou, but I did what I have to. He's too weak. The world would crush him in an instant.   
  
"I did what I had to. The boy's weak," I said defensively.  
  
I watched shock fly across the *pharaoh*'s face before that damnable holier-then-thou expression came into play.   
  
"He is NOT weak," he growled out.  
  
I snorted slightly that THAT misconception, "Whatever, *Pharaoh*. I just came here to tell you to stay away from MY Hikari."  
  
"And if I don't?" he questioned arrogantly.  
  
I narrowed my eyes until they were nearly closed, cruelty filling me as I moved my face closer to his. My lips hovered just above the once *Pharaoh* lingeringly.  
  
"Remember that you "loyal" guards aren't with you now and there are many ways I can and will break you intoa thousand pieces without killing or sending you to the Shadow Realm," I said in a low, dangerous voice.My lips curved upward in a slight smirk as I noticed the fear that crossed his face. A blind man could have seen that fear.  
  
Provoking the *pharaoh* is fun, but I have to make sure he gets my point. I pressed my lips firmly against his in a rough kiss before pulling away. Partially disturbed because I'd partly liked it and because I'd just kissed my worst enemy. Ugh.   
  
I smirked at him, reveling in the expression of fear and surprise that crossed his face. I turned and walked away. He didn't bother to try and stop me. The shock probably freezing him solid. I flipped my snow white hair demurely and walked back to Ryou's room. Locking the door once I was inside, I laid down on the bed. Crossing my ankles casualy and crossing my arms behind my head as I tapped my left foot restlessly.   
  
I'll have to find Pegasus soon to get the Sennen Eye from him. It will be an excellent addition and will most likely help me in the next duel against the *pharaoh*. It's doubtful that the millionaire will defeat Yugioh though. But if by some weird stroke of luck he does, it'll be like killing to birds with one stone.   
  
I rolled over to my side, tapping my hand against my hip. I want my Ryou. Right now. I need to wipe the *pharaoh's* touch from both him and me. Focusing my mind on him I shoved him out of his Soul Room and into the bed next to me, careful not to awaken him. With a gentleness I'd never let anyone else see I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face into his hair. I just want to hold him tonight. Just rest here with my silver tenchi in my arms. The one thing the *Pharaoh* can never take from me.   
  
Ever.  
  
Closing my eyes I breathed in his sweet scent before descending the steps of sleep.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A.n.-Well, didya like it? I hope so. Sorry if the ending was abrupt... I was in a fluffy mood I guess when I wrote this^_^. I hope you liked it though, review, onegai 'n' maybe I'll add more. If I do, I'll probably skip ahead to Battle City so I can bring in Malik 'n' his Yami ^_^Tee-hee:)Review onegai:)   
  
Ja Ne^_~ 


	5. Ryou's POV

A.n.-And we have the next chappie, Ryou-chan's p.o.v. of course^_^. I hope you like it:)Doona forget to review, kay?^_^As for the quotes from the songs down there....I was listeing to the two songs while I was writieng this n' they seemed to fit...both are majorly cool songs so cheak 'um out if ya ever get the chance!^_~  
  
Dedication-KittyKatie, Aznsilhouettee247, R Amythest, Crystaldraygon98, Fate, Promise, Vash, Diamond, Bronze Eagle, Sadira-Black, Katy999, and Rina Starfire. Arigato minna!!^_^I love you all!^_~  
  
  
  
~I hear a voice that says "don't be so blind"  
Its tellin' me all these things that you would probably hide  
Am I your one and only desire?   
Am I the reason breathe?   
Or am I the reason you cry?~  
  
~Always, always, always, always, always, I just can't live without you  
I love you, I hate you, I can't live without you  
I breathe you, I taste you, I can't live without you  
I just can't take anymore of this life of solitude  
I guess that I'm out the door, and now I'm done with you~  
  
~I see the blood all over your hands  
Does it make you feel more like a man?  
Was it all a part of your plan?  
The pistol is shakeing in my hand and all I hear is the sound....~  
  
--Saliva "Always"  
  
~I can't remember anything, can't tell if this is true or a dream  
Deep down inside I feel to scream, this terrible silence stops me  
Now that the war is through with me, I'm wakeing up and I can not see  
That theres not much left of me, theres nothing real but pain now~  
  
~Hold my breath as I wish for death  
Oh please god wake me~  
  
~Darkness imprisoning me  
All that I see, absoulte horror  
I can not live, I can not die  
Trapped in myself, body my holding cell~  
  
--Metallica "One"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Blood on my hands, blood on my soul.   
  
A brilliant red that had permeated my every essence.  
  
Dark and penetrating in its staining hold, it is a color I can never erase from my vision. It never completely washes from my clothes, like it will never completely wash away from my soul. I opened my eyes, blearily looking out my large window.   
  
The sky was even darker tonight, pure pitch black. Not even the moon nor stars shone valiantly. In an ironic way the sky reflected me. Showing how the darkness had at last conquered the light, breaking it down into nothing. Like how I am nothing.   
  
I was in my room, laying on my side. My breath came in ragged, agonizing gasps. My body felt numbed to all feeling, only a pounding that shook me every few seconds was a reminder of the pain that wracked my weak frame. Blood was pouring in heavy rivers down my face and running through my fingers.   
  
The small inane thought came to me that it was going to be hell to get the blood out of my once pure white carpet. Even if I try to get rid of it, it'll never completely disappear. Like my Yami. A stain onto my very soul that no amount of cleansing can ever remove. He is me and I am him. Nothing can ever change that. Eternity lays with me, binding me to him for longer then time itself.   
  
I slowly tried to rise, feeling the ever-heavy weight of the Ring draw my fragile body down as I tried to rise. The world spun before my eyes, turning white for a moment as I collapsed back to the ground. Thought was a foreign concept to me now. All I could do is feel...feel the soul burning agony that poured over my abused body.  
  
Breathing heavily I gritted my teeth as hard as I could and started to drag myself across the floor. The agony that shifted through my fallen frame was nearly enough to send me skirting off the edge into blissful sleep but I forced myself to endure. I had no choice.   
  
I'm just fortunate that I've no school tomorrow...Kami-sama knows I won't make through the day like I usually try to. And I'm not sure if I can tell another lie. Each one always chokes me, makes my body sweet as a blade cuts its way through my soul. Even though I'm doing it to protect them...I can't help the guilt that burdens me.   
  
I finally made it to the threshold of my bathroom. I laid there, the coppery taste of my own life fluid on my tongue as I closed my eyes against the blinding white of my bathroom. It hadn't seemed so -bright- before. Kami-sama, it hurt to even *breathe* now...grimacing I rested my cheek against the pristine white floor...it felt deliciously cold...soothing my over-heated flesh...  
  
Time passed, minutes...hours...they all seemed merged together in an unknowing blend. All I knew was that the pain eventually subsided again to a dull throb that I could somewhat tolerate.  
  
Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself all the way into the bathroom and shut the door with my left foot. I scouted backward slowly and reached shakily up to lock the door. I knew in some deep recess of my mind that no locked door was going to protect me...but I needed some form of comfort. Even if it was just a uselessly locked door.   
  
I leaned for a moment against the firm, unyielding wood. Trying to gather my frazzled senses together enough for me to make it to the shower. I licked my swollen bottom lip slowly before staring longingly at the white tub a few feet away. A small piece of blissful heaven awaited me there...if I could bring myself to make it there and get what was left of my clothes off...If I could that is...  
  
Grabbing onto the doorknob, I pulled myself into a standing position. My vision swam before me, mixing the fading colors of my bathroom together in a mesmerizing blend. Closing my eyes for a minute I forced myself to remain strong and reopened them. Holding my arms out slightly for balanced I half stumbled my way to the tub. Turning the knobs quickly, neither caring nor desiring any certain temperature. Just the cleansing liquid that poured down.   
  
Swallowing hard I sat down on the edge, which probably wasn't wise considering I'd probably fall in, I pulled off my bloodied jeans and my ruined shirt and dropped them onto the floor. Leaning back as carefully as I dared I landed into the tub. Hot water splashed my body. Only now did I notice the curling white steam that began to color the air.   
  
My body felt like it was slowly being burned but I didn't care. It was washing away his painful touch, washing away the memories and the blood. I leaned forward, dipping my head in the overly warm water. The water drenched my face and my hair hung limply in my face. I laid there like that, my mind fleeing my tortured body to the safe recesses of my mind.   
  
The face of my forbidden desire appeared in my minds eye. His perfectly regal features, those brewing ruby eyes that had shone down upon me with compassion...the only one to ever do so in a very long time. The way I'd felt with his arms around me, with his lips smiling down at me with a pure emotion that was so far from the malice I had become so accustomed to. Pharaoh Yugioh (My Yami had let his real name slip a few times...go figure)...the name rang through my mind like a deadly caress.   
  
Just as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared to be replaced with the face of one that made me tremble with fear. My Yami. My Aibou. My Master. My tormenter, my own personal demon in the flesh. Despite of the blazing heat from the water mercilessly spraying down on me I trembled, tears falling down my cheeks.   
  
I had thought my Yami changed at the Duelist Kingdom. Who wouldn't when I'd awoken to find his arms gently wrapped around me like a lover? I'd laid there for a long time, afraid to even breathe hard as it may break the spell that had been woven. I remember marveling at my Yami's sleeping beauty.   
  
One could never say his sleeping face was innocent though. Even in slumber you could see the hardened lines of cruelty that would never leave his face. Ever. I was a fool to trust him for one single act. A fool to believe that one talk with the Yugioh that the torture he took joy in giving me would end. It will never end. Even in death I know he will haunt me. Eternity lies with he and I, crossing all boundaries of time and space to bind us. Its inescapable, I know that. On some level I always have.  
  
I know now that my Yami had been holding back before the Duelist Kingdom and during. For while he beat me, yes, it had never been this bad. I know now that the hatred I thought I saw in his eyes is nothing compared to the utter loathing I see now. My life was practically heaven then, I thought it was hell but compared to now, it was pure undying bliss. A mere dream.   
  
But now the dream has ended and a harsh slap of reality has hit me like a bucket of icy water thrown upon me. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, a silent sob fighting its way up my throat. I don't know how much more of this I can take. If I didn't know that the consequences of attempted suicide then I'd probably slit my throat with one of the knives downstairs.   
  
But he'd never allow that.   
  
He'd never let me leave the world like that. He's too much chaos to wreak upon this world to let a weakling like me try to spoil his fun. And ruining my darker half's fun is asking for either a trip to the Shadow Realm or the remainder of your life in his hands. The former would be more merciful, I assure you.   
  
I'm a coward, I know I am. Why else would I bend my will to him? Why would I compromise all I've been taught just because of the agony he can induce? I can't deny him anything, he knows my mind more intimately than anyone ever could. And in return I know him nearly as well. Though to say I have him completely figured out would be a lie.  
  
He's a paradox that can never be found out. Too many twisting and turning paths, too many secrets and lies behind what motivates him to his cruelty. To say something pushes him to be what he is wouldn't be correct. It?s just his nature to be destructive, its a part of him. Something I cannot change. That no one can ever change.   
  
I can't live without him though, as horrible as that may sound. To be close to him even while being abused is far better then being ripped away from him again. That soul burning agony, that pain in my heart as time had crawled by, it had never abated while we were apart. I know he felt the same, though he'd deny that with a fervent passion. To admit such a thing would be a weakness, and while my Yami is many things, weak is certainly not one of them.   
  
I know that if I asked my friends would try to help me, to save me from this darkness that dwells inside of me. But no matter what they think or say I know the truth. That they can't do anything, despite what they believe. My Yami can never be changed, and he and I can never truly be separated.   
  
He came back during the Duelist Kingdom, and if banished again by a fluke of luck he'd find a way back again. I know he would.   
  
I suppose I was naive back then of Yami's intentions. I knew he was trying to gather the Sennen Items. But I never dreamed how far he would go to achieve that goal. I felt tears burn in my eyes and roll in a cold streak down my cheeks. I felt pity for Pegasus, I did. He didn't deserve what had happened to him. No one deserves that...   
  
I can still remember the horror that had filled me on the boat ride back to Domino when I'd found the blood-crusted Sennen Eye in my pocket. I'd wanted more then anything in the world to throw it into the ocean. Hell, I'd even tried. Only to have my Yami appear out the Ring and yank the Sennen Eye from my hand before pushing me half-way over the banister.   
  
I suppose its fortunate that I was by myself when this had happened. I didn't want Yugioh to see me acting like the weakling I am, and I'd rather that no one else got hurt on my account either. I can still remember the burning anger in my Yami's eyes as he'd stared me down. His voice making my body tremble fiercely as I'd stared up at him with all the fear in my shattered soul.   
  
He'd dared me to try that again, dared me to try and sabotage his quest again. For when I did, he swore that I'd wish I'd never been born. I already did, I'd retorted. I'd paid dearly for that comment. The mental attacks he'd sent into me had sent me to my knees in a quavering agony. To defy my Yami is to risk death itself, something that I wish for daily but will never receive. I'm bound to him, and lucky me gets to live as long as he does. Which, knowing my damnable luck, will be a very long time.   
  
Nothing can stop him, nothing can contain him. A lesson I learned far too late. Though to think if I could have changed things, if I'd known way back then what I know now. But it isn't an option even worth considering. You can't change the past, no matter how hard you try. And even if you could, you'd lose the things that make you who you are.   
  
As much as he hurts me, as much as the hatred he holds for me burns my very soul I know that I could never trade knowing him for anything this world, or any other, could offer. Being with him is better then being separated. Its impossible for anyone but a Hikari to understand the agony of being only half. Just half a person, half a soul, half a being. And though he'd never admit it, I know he needs me as much as I need him.   
  
But that doesn't make this okay...or does it? I don't know...I can't think strait anymore. Right and wrong, love and hate, light and darkness...I can't really tell the difference any more. They're all one and the same to me...  
  
Ishtal Malik is the only one who understands, the only one who ever can understand really. But then again, he's in the exact same position as me. Except there are times I wonder which is worse; My Yami or Malik's? I think that?s one question I don't ever want to hear the answer to...  
  
I shook my head slightly, wincing as the migraine, which had dulled to a mere throb, bellowed once more through my head. I ran a hand through my soaked hair, gently probing my fingers around my right temple only to yank them away a split second later hissing in pain. Looks like he hit me harder with that vase then I thought...  
  
Pushing back my hair I winced slightly at the boiling water that splashed onto my face but ignored it and reached over for the bottle of shampoo near me. Pouring a little into my hand I scrubbed it gently in before washing it quickly, holding my head at an angle so not too much soapy water fell onto the wound on my temple. Once I got the shampoo out I repeated the ritual this time with conditioner.   
  
My hair rinsed I looked down at my battered body with no expression. Scars, bruises, and other cuts littered my flesh, turning it into a grotesque journal of the pain in my life. Leaning harder against the wall I pushed myself into a standing position and turned off the water. Laying a hand down on the side of the tub, I climbed carefully out.   
  
I grabbed two towels off the rack and wrapped my hair up in one before wrapping the other around my waist. Licking my dry, cracked lips I walked over to the mirror. I whipped my hand across it, removing the fog from it to allowing me to see my reflection clearly. I barely recognized the ghost of a teenager that stared back at me.   
  
Large once luminous brown eyes were sunken and held only resignation and sadness. My features were pale and gaunt, my skin pulled tautly over my bones from lack of nourishment. I haven't had a desire to eat since my Yami appeared two months ago while I was cooking dinner and threw the water I was boiling onto me and pressed my back up against the burners until I could actually smell the scent of burned flesh in the air.   
  
I shuddered at the memory. My back has yet to completely heal from that little punishment.  
  
I turned my face away from the mirror and limped as quickly as I could from the bathroom. I looked around carefully as I stepped out, stretching out as far as I could with my mind to see if my Yami was close. It was always hard to pinpoint him, if my Yami didn't wish to be seen then he wasn't, if he did, then nearly anyone could. Though usually I can feel him when I reach out hard enough through our bond....   
  
He wasn't home.   
  
I wasn't sure whether to be relived or frightened by that revelation.  
  
Sure, since he wasn't here I would be able to take care my wounds without interruption or fear of more being added if I so much as whimpered out loud in pain. But...since he wasn't here then that meant he was strolling through the darkened streets of Domino where any poor mortal could stumble into his path. People didn't understand the danger he represented...that lack of sight had cost many their lives and souls. Each crushed in his pale hands.   
  
Or perhaps he was with Malik's Yami. I trembled at that thought. Apart they were formidable to any, together the very earth shook with the terror they could inspire with a single glare. Insanity rivets from both of them, and no matter what they may appear at first glance they are not ones to be trifled with under any circumstance...  
  
Still, if Marik (that was the name Malik's Yami preferred to be called) was out with my Yami that meant that Malik was safe tonight. My only true friend, my only confident, the only one I trust with all my secrets. Including the one about Yugioh. Abruptly the sound of the doorbell ringing splashed through the air.   
  
I froze.  
  
Acting as quickly as my body would allow I grabbed a heavy robe off my bed and wrapped it around my small frame quickly. Pulling the towel off my head I fluffed my hair around my face to hide the wound on my temple, my busted lip and the bruise I could feel slowly forming on my right eye.   
  
I limped down the stairs, holding the rail in a white-knuckled grip until I made it downstairs. Taking a deep breath to try and smooth my frazzled nerves, I hobbled over to the front door.   
  
I opened it slowly, squinting slightly in the dusky light of the setting sun. Even still, I knew the figure before me in an instant. How could I not? How could I possibly forget the only being to hold me close in so long when my nightmares were closing in? I swallowed hard, dipping my head farther forward so my hair covered more my face.   
  
I closed my eyes slightly and leaned more against the door, my heart pounded hard in my chest and I could feel my knees wobbling; barely supporting my weight.   
  
"Y-You shouldn't be heh-here," I stammered, leaning farther back into the shadowy refuge of my home...if one could call it that...  
  
He tilted his head, ruby eyes of such regal intensity swept down over my frame and back to my face. Shock was written in those expressive orbs as he stared at me. I wanted nothing more at that moment then to throw myself into his arms and have him soothe away my pain and fears like he did that night. No matter what price I would pay later I wanted comfort...the kind of comfort I knew only he could give to me...  
  
No.   
  
I swallowed hard, I couldn't give into this frivolous weakness I felt welling hard inside me. To do so would only lead to more pain in the end. I can't bring down hell upon Yugioh, his Aibou, and so many others just because of my stupid feelings.   
  
Yugioh reached forward and pushed the door gently all the way open. I moved back a few steps, caught off balance, as I no longer had anything to lean against. Backing away numbly a few more steps I allowed him to walk over the threshold into the house. He said nothing at first and I simply stared at him. Drinking in the ageless face I'd dreamed of sense that night...   
  
"Where is the Tomb Robber?" he questioned in a deceptively soft voice that I could easily feel the fury that hung beneath it.  
  
I reached into my robe out of reflex to curl my fingers around the Sennen Ring at the mention of my Yami however, "Not here,"I responded,"Out. I don't know where though."   
  
He nodded slowly, reaching out a hand out toward me, "Come with me, Ryou. We'll...we'll find a way to get rid of him. I promise you. You don't have to live like this." His voice held a soft cracking lilt to it. His eyes shined with so much emotion...so much welcoming essence...pulling me in...reaching for me...  
  
I backed farther away, feeling tears build in my eyes. I wanted to take his hand, to be with him. But I can't. I just can't. I shook my head.   
  
"You should leave now, Pharaoh--"  
  
"You don't have to call me that, Ryou," he interrupted, his eyes sparkling with an emotion I couldn't identify before being lost in those crimsondepths. "My name is Yugioh."   
  
I inclined my head shakily at him, my hands twisting together in a nervous habit I'd never been able to lose. I had to get him out of here. Not just because my Yami would kill me for having him here but because...because...damnation, he just had to leave now!   
  
"Yugioh, you don't understand...I can't...I just...without him..." I blubbered on, desperation seeping into my voice. My breath was loud in my own ears, hysteria creeping into me at the thought of losing my Yami again... "I just...you have to leave, you ha-ha-have to-to go now..."  
  
"You should listen to Yami no Bakura's Hikari, Pharaoh. It'd be for the best."  
  
I felt a small cry rise in my throat as I saw the wild blonde hair and heard that sensual deceptively smooth voice. Just as quickly as the fear filled me I felt it slip away. Relief nearly sent me to my knees as I realized it was Malik, my friend, not his Yami who held about as much fondness for me as my own Yami. Though unlike my Yami, he usually insisted upon tormenting me in a more...deeper...physical...manner...shaking off those rather unpleasant memories I sent a shaky smile at Malik before returning my gaze to the ruby-eyed god before me.   
  
I watched as the Phar--...Yugioh's eyes narrowed slightly his frame tensing as though for battle as he turned, shifting slightly as he turned, in front of me in a protective gesture that warmed my heart.   
  
"Malik...." he hissed the name like a curse, "What the hell are you doing here?!" he demanded, anger coloring his voice.   
  
Malik tossed his head slightly, his body shifting into an cocky unthreatened stance. Stormy violet orbs became half-lidded as he sent a careless smirk at the Pharaoh I had become infatuated with.   
  
"Apparently helping a friend. Leave, Pharaoh, before you end up causing the Tenshe more problems," he replied, crossing his arms across his chest.   
  
I felt my cheeks burn crimson at Malik's calling me an angel. Kami-sama, did he go out of his way to embarrass me or what?!   
  
I watched Yugioh's hands clinch only slightly as he sneered at Malik and I could tell in an instant that things were starting to escalate into something physical. I moved faster then I believed possible in my current position and got between the two.   
  
"Malik's right, Yugioh...you should go...onegai," I pleaded, looking up at him through my eyelashes.   
  
Yugioh's face contorted into several emotions before he sent a look of pure venom at Malik and walked out the door. He paused only slightly, looking over his shoulder at me with...longing? No, I had to of imagined it...there?s simply no way...   
  
And then he was gone. Just like that. I reached up and ran a hand through my hair, toying with it idly. An unsure gesture that I'd never lost. Malik sent me a sympathetic look before walking in and shutting the door behind him. It was then that my feigned strength collapsed beneath me, and though I saw the ground racing to meet me I felt no fear of colliding into it. I'd done that too many times to feel any surprise at it.  
  
I felt warm arms wrap around me and lift me up gently. I looked up blearily at the concerned face of my friend as he carried me up the stairs to my bedroom. He laid me gently on the bed before walking off toward the bathroom adjoined to my room. I sat up slowly, touching the wound on my temple gently.   
  
I felt a warm hand pull my own away and I looked up to the silently storming eyes of the Egyption boy before. No words were spoken, none were needed, as he cleaned and my cuts and rubbed a pain relieving ointment onto my bruises and such. I smiled my thanks at him.   
  
We'd done this dozens of times. Either me helping to heal him or he, me. It was silent, ritualistic secret between us to help each other in the only way we could. Neither of us could defend each other from our Yami's, hell we couldn't protect ourselves! But...at least we could try to mend the damage that had come afterward...   
  
He rose slowly and walked over to my dresser, shifting around for a few moments he turned around with a fresh pair of boxers, a pair of loose sweat pants and a sleeveless shirt. He laid them next to me.   
  
"I'll meet you in the living room when your done, unless you need me to stay n' help you..." he trailed off.  
  
I smiled softly at him, "I think I'll be fine...thanks Malik...for...everything.."  
  
He grinned cockily back at me,"You'd do the same for me, Tenshe-chan."his voice hiked to a teaseing point at the affectionet nickname he'd given me a few weeks back, before disppearing out the door.   
  
I fingered the clothes for a moment before throwing off my towel (the robe had long since been discarded during Malik's ministrations.) I changed carefully into the new articles. The pain reliever was working wonders, it was easier for me to move than it had been before. I stood up slowly, still cautious.   
  
Most of the dizziness from earlier had abated, for which I was more then grateful for. Still, I walked slowly out my door and down the stairs to the living room where I saw Malik waiting, he was sprawled out in a lazy fashion watching but not seeing the cartoons that played across the t.v.   
  
I walked over to him without fear or trepidation. I didn't bother to try and cover the numerous scars on my arms or fresh bruises. There was no need. I had nothing to hide from him, he already knew it all anyway, so what was the point? He looked over at me, shifting over on the couch in a silent offer.   
  
He always understood what I was going to do before it even happened...that?s just the way he was. Though I was often the same with him, when you?re thrown together with someone in a hellish nightmare where you've only each other to survive you tend to learn a lot about the other. Learning just what makes them tick, or something of the like.   
  
I walked forward slowly and laid down next to him on the couch, it was pretty big actually. Enough room for at least four people to lie on each other comfortably. I rested my head slowly on Malik's chest, feeling silent tears fall down my cheeks. I didn't understand how the world could be this cruel. What had I truly done to deserve this?   
  
Had my Yami's sins of robbing all those tombs rubbed off onto me? Was that why the gods hated me so?   
  
I felt Malik wrap his arm gently over me, his hands toying with my hair in a soothing manner. Offering what comfort he could with his physical presence. I didn't need to look up to know he was crying just like me but I did anyway. His jaw was clinched tight, his eyes narrowed slightly as though to keep those tears inside.   
  
Defiantly still they poured down his exotically handsome face.   
  
Looks like he didn't just come over to check on me. His Yami must've done a number on him too. Due to the lack of blood, though (and with Marik there was always blood when his anger was let loose,) the attack had either been verbal or mental. One or the other. I snuggled closer to my friend, holding back a sob that was fighting up my throat.   
  
I didn't know why I was crying. Maybe it was the fresh memories of my Yami's latest punishment...or maybe it was because I'd finally seen Yugioh again...alone and I hadn't taken the opportunity to talk with him. To be with him. Even if only for a second. Maybe I wept for the chances I'd lost...   
  
"What in Ra's name is going on here?!" I heard an enraged voice boom. Yami's home.  
  
My heart leapt into my throat.   
  
My blood pounded in my ears.  
  
Adrenaline surged through my body.   
  
I jumped up off Malik, feeling him leap up onto the arm of the couch and furiously wipe away the lingering tears on his cheeks; I quickly did the same. Trying to lock away my feelings behind a mask like Malik was able to do so often. But I'm not as strong as Malik and it took me more then a few seconds to get my emotions under control.   
  
"Well, well, isn't this nice." Smooth as silk, seductive and cruel in its own right was that voice. Marik. "Two weaklings finally together. How cute," he sneered.   
  
I looked from him to my Yami. Those demon eyes brewed the insanity that Marik's did. I backed away, already feeling the blows that would soon rain down on my battered body.   
  
"Well, Hikaris, where is he?" Marik asked, absently taking out the Sennen Rod and extending the blade.   
  
He looked so casual, so uncaring. As though the answer to the question proposed wouldn't mean a damn thing to him. A lie. My heart raced a few more miles at the sight of that blade. That devilish blade that had been used on both Malik and I...at the same time on an occasion when both his and my Yami were feeling particularly blood-lusty.   
  
I suppose I'm making him sound like a monster...not that he isn't but that's beside the point. He has done kind things, on an occasion. Once Malik told me that when he was ill for a week his Yami took care of him like a mother hen, worrying and clucking over the slightest rise in his temperature or the slightest discomfort he felt. Bringing him food and even snuggling with him when chills had wracked his body. Marik *snuggling* mind you...that's a hard thing to picture, yes, but well worth it.   
  
They do have they're good points...I suppose...but they're not called darkness for nothing. A factor that shouldn't be forgotten.   
  
But at the moment all those good things they had done had just taken the backseat to my blinding fear.   
  
I paused for a moment to get my voice under control before I responding,"...Who?"  
  
I flinched as Marik cut his finger with the blade, he looked up at me with a hellfire blazing in those crazy lavender eyes that held a madness that I didn't even want to begin to unravel.   
  
"Don't lie to me, slut. You know what I'm talking about." His voice had lowered an octave, a sure sign that I'd angered him and would soon pay the price for my ignorance.   
  
"You think we can't tell, *hikari*?" my Yami questioned, venom-like anger and hatred dripped from his voice, "We can practically smell that bastard of a Pharaoh's presence through here. You think we can't sense it? Now I'll ask you again. Where... Is... He...?" He gritted out the question, those sharp canine teeth of his flashed as his spoke.   
  
"I...I..." I stammered. Unable to respond. I doubt that I could have repeated my name if asked.  
  
Abruptly I felt Malik shift closer to me on the couch, I glanced fearfuly at him and saw him tilt his head forward toward the open window that was behind me then toward the hallway leading to the front door...which was located *behind* the two Yami's. He cocked an eyebrow three distinct times at me.  
  
The translation was: "go for the window or the door, on the count of three". Fear climbed through me but I knew I didn't have a choice. To stay meant pain beyond what had been earlier...and with Marik there was always a chance of...something *else* happening...he had a way of making you want something you didn't...with or without shadow magic.   
  
One.  
  
I felt my body tense, ready to spring.  
  
Two.  
  
They were looking at us with suspesion, I could feel my Yami probing my mind.   
  
Three.  
  
We bolted, a war cry of fear erupting from us as we both dived in sepereate directions toward whatever exit was closest. For me it was the window. I dived through it and landed hard on the soft grass of my lawn. I squirmed for a moment there like a fish out of water until the screams inside and the sound of my front door thwaping open brought me back to the present.  
  
"I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT YOU FUCKING WHORE! GET THE HELL BACK HERE!"  
  
I was running, the voice of Marik echoeing behind me made my legs feel like rubber; my fear threatening to paralize me. Gritting my teeth I forced myself onward. I had no choice but to run now. I felt my breath come in ragged, uneven gasps. My side screamed with agony as did my other wounds from eariler this day. Running like your in a marethon after you've had the life nearly beatin out of you and icy fear echoing through your every sense apparently isn't a good idea.   
  
The quick inane thought that Marik's words of anger for once weren't meant at me but Malik came to mind. I speed up my pace at the thought. Whatever stunt Malik had pulled to get past the two Yamis would fall on me ten-fold if I stumbled now. So I went on, never dareing a glance back. I ran like a man possessed, like the hounds of hell were nipping at my hells...in a way they were.  
  
I wasn't worried about my Yami retreating to his soul room to catch me. Him and Marik would probably turn Malik's and my running away into a game. Whoever finds their (or the other?s) Hikari first wins. And there is nothing an spirt from Ancient Egypt like our Yami's loved more then competition...esspecialy against eachother.  
  
I licked my lips nervously as I ran into one of the many parks in Domino. The flames of bitter night was thick in the sky and air, nearly chokeing me with its embrace. High in the sky the moon was slowly slipping out from behind a cloud, but it gave off no real light yet.  
  
I hated being in the dark...I always have.  
  
Yami knew that though, so he probably figured I wouldn't run to one of the darkest areas in Domino for sanctuary. And I found the shadows of this darkness out in the opening more comfort then my Yami's "tender" mercies at the moment anyway...whatever lurked out there, be it the boogy-man or thugs, I'd rather face them then my Yami at the moment....  
  
Abruptly I felt cold arms wrap around me, one hand covering my mouth while the other restrained my arms. I bucked wildly agains the steel-like embrace. How in the hell had they found me so quickly!? How?! I felt a whimper escape my throat and tears burn at my eyes in the resignation of what was to come...Pain beyond mortal comphrension...  
  
"Ow! Damn it Ryou, stop it! Its me, Malik!" I jerked away from the embrace, and he let me.   
  
I looked hard into Malik's eyes, searching for the dark jadedness of his darker halves gaze. Marik had always been a excellent actor...it wouldn't do me good  
  
"Tenshe-chan? It?s me, promise. Not my Yami."His voice was soft, lilting. Holding a pleadeing note for me to belive him..  
  
I relaxed. Marik didn't know Malik's nickname for me...though he easily could have figured it out by ransacking Malik's mind....  
  
I shook my head and offered my Egyptian companion a shaky smile. I was being stupid, this was Malik. It had to be. Only he would find me so quickly. I hugged him quickly, burrowing my face in that warm lean chest.   
  
"Where do we go from here, Malik?" I said into his chest, my voice coming out muffled and softer than I thought it would.   
  
Malik tightened his grip on me, "I don't know...Hide out here for a little while...we can't run forever though...but maybe we can give them a day or so to cool down."   
  
"Or get even more angry."  
  
"Don't be so pessimistic, Tenshe-chan"Malik scolded, Though I could tell his heart wasn't really in it. It was only ment to distract us from the seriouseness of this situation. Give us a second to breathe.  
  
I shrugged slightly, and Malik lead me over to a tree nearby...deeper in the shadows. We slid down, Malik's hands moving to a possessive   
grasp around my waist. I leaned into the embrace. Not at all threatened or surprised by the sudden action. When Malik was unsure or scared he always held me like this. There was no reason for me to be afraid.   
  
I looked up at him, blinking slowly. The riseing light of the moon shadowed his face, makeing his stormy lavender eyes seem to glow with a luminious light. Shoulder-length bleach blonde hair fell in light waves over his shoulders. A perfectly full mouth was set in a firm contemplative frown that gave his beauty an almost sullenly lovelyness. I wasn't blind to my friends obviouse attractiveness, I'd be a fool not to see it. Not that I was interested in him that way, nor he in me.   
  
His gaze fell down upon me suddenly, those abyssful lavender eyes of his seemed darker somehow. More compelling then anything I'd ever seen. All I saw was a small flicker of golden light from his earrings before I felt his warm mouth upon me. Shocked, I could do nothing but sit there in beffuddlement. Why was he doing this?!  
  
He pushed me down beneith him suddenly, his hands moveing to hold my wrists at either side of my head. He bit my bottem lip suddenly to gain access to my mouth, I complied if only becouse of the pain his pearly teeth had spawned. His body was molded against mine, the point of his arousal against my inner thigh. His tongue probbed and explored me, tasteing every crevice like I was the greatest thing he'd ever found.  
  
It all suddenly fell together as I finaly gained enough of my shattered sanity to bite down. Hard.  
  
The coppery taste of blood tainted my mouth as he pulled away. I winced at the sight of scarlet blood running down his mouth...which had turned up into a cunning smirk at the moment...What was going on?  
  
"What?s the matter Tenshie-chan?"he mocked, "You know you always wanted that...I saw the way you looked at me..."   
  
Cruelty riveted from his gaze. The lines of his face becoming harder and harsher, a burningly dangeres beauty still though. His eyes became slightly narrower, and his hair, wilder, as he shed the guise of his gentler half. I'd forgotten how adept Marik was at changing his appearance and voice. Usually I can tell a Yami from a Hikari with ease...but with Marik...it was always a gamble unless you looked  
really hard...and I, in my panic, had not done that.  
  
Insane Marik may be, but he's a smark pycho for certain. I had doubted his skills as an actor...been naive enough to think I could tell who he was when he didn't want me to know...I would pay the price for my ignorence now....  
  
"Marik...sama"I whimpered, feeling tears fall down my cheeks.  
  
He chuckled darkly,"So the white haired innocent does have a brain after all." His smirk widened as a violent hunger I hadn't seen before filled his those compelling lavender orbs"You've no idea how deleciouse you look right now, do you?"  
  
He leaned down and licked up my tears, I didn't dare move for fear he may do something eles...Marik licked his lips slowly, his face only inches from my own...his warm breath tickled my cheek tantalizeingly...  
  
"Lemme go...onegai..."I pleaded.  
  
He let loose a chuckle of pure amusement at me,"Now why would I want to do that? You still haven't been punished enough for me to let you go..."  
  
His lips were pliant against my own again, his hands releaseing my wrists to travel up my shirt to carress my bruised chest. Pain shot through me, makeing light swirl in my vision as he pressed down on a particularly painful spot. My cry seemed only to arouse him further but he pulle daway.  
  
"Bakura's known this was going to be happening sooner or later...Him and I have come to an understanding of sorts. To teach you and my Hikari some respect he and I are going to switch for a little while." He stood suddenly and picked my frozen with horror body up off the ground. He held me possessively close, seeming not to notice the utter panic that was rushing through my mind like a flood.  
  
I was going to be MARIK'S Aibou for a while!!? How long was a while!?!? I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling a few more tears run their way down.  
  
//Do you hate me this much, Yami-sama?//  
  
/Hmp. You seem to fear him more then me sometimes, and Malik at times seems more afraid of me then Marik. Maybe a little while with you two switched will beat it into your head that you cannot ever escape from me./  
  
//Onegai, don't do this Yami-sama.../  
  
/Urusei *Hikari*/ he drawled, his voice eroding away whatever pride remained in me, /You should have accepted your punishment like a good little slave, then you wouldn't be his for the next few days. You brought this on yourself. So quit whining and deal with it, baka/ he hissed.   
  
I flinched and bowed my head lower.   
  
He was leaving me to Marik's mercy for a few days...  
  
I wanted to cry...and for the first time in Kami-sama knows I didn't bother to hide my tears from my dark master that held me. I sobbed all the tears that were locked up inside of me. I cried for all I was worth, and in my sea of self-pity I felt him tighten his hold on me and plant a kiss of branding intensity on my lips before blissful oblivion engulfed me.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A.n.-Damn...I think that?s the longest chappie I've written in a while...I hope ya'all liked it somewhat.I hope I'm not making Marik too evil...I do like his character. Him and Malik are my absolute favorites along side Ryou-chan and Bakura-chan....Review onegai ^_^ I'll only add more if ya'all review! ^_^ 


	6. Marik's POV

A.n.-Gomen for the wait, I've been busy with stuff. And I was caught at an impasse as to whether I should use Marik or Yuugi's p.o.v. for this....Hope ya like it^_^. I choose Marik btw:).  
  
Also, Shitsumon, don't worry:). Yuugi will be added soon^_~ I can't forget him of course:)  
  
And Happy Yaoi Lover, I would write a lemon...but I'm not exactly good with writeing them...So sorry hon, the rating will probably stay as is...  
  
And...Ryou-Bakura read one of my fics and liked it*blushes*arigato!^_^.  
  
Dedication-R Amythest, Millenium Elf, Shitsumon, Guess, Dreamcaser149, Hikari no Yami, Thockie, Darangel2586, Anonymous, Draggy, Cari Starfire, Elusitania, Happy Yaoi Lover, AngelsKitten, Zypher Dragon a.k.a. Diamond, Flaming Heart, Karadaki, Promise, Ryou-Bakura, KittyKatie and Firedraygon97. Arigato all of you!!^_^*whipes a tear*Ya'all are so supportive...the love is so wonderful ^_^Ty all of you! *throws Ryou-chan n' Malik-chan plushies at you all along with roses*  
  
  
"I wanna push you around, well I will, I will...I  
wanna push you down, well I will, I will  
I wanna take you for granted, yeah I wanna take you for granted  
And I wanna take you for granted...yeah, yeah I will"  
--Matchbox 20 "Push"  
  
  
  
  
He smells like rain.   
  
Sweet, clean, melting droplets falling from the heavens high above. It's his innocence that draws us all. To crush that innocent soul in my hands, to see his clear untainted blood flow across my hands in a vivid river...delicious. I ran a hand across his moonlit ivory face. Lovely pure swirling pools of brown are closed in sleep. I think I'll let him rest for a while, recover. We have had such a night...such a bloody, beautiful night. Wish I could keep him longer...  
  
But with my own true Hikari so far away it puts a strain on me to try and draw from this new host. Not that I mind this new Hikari...but he isn't mine. A shame, perhaps. But my own Hikari is just as beautiful as this one, if not more so. Shattered remains of a broken mirror bended to reflect me he is. Only a small little shadow in his own mind, afraid of his own existence...terrified by the fact that he's chained to me forever.  
  
Hehehe...It could be worse. He could be that idiot of a Pharaoh's pitiful Hikari. Boring...save the world from the return of the Shadow Games! *Gasp*, my friends have evil Yamis out to steal my Puzzle and conquest/destroy the world. Pathetic. I'd say we get the more fun out of the bargain. After all, they're trying to save the world...we get to crush it in our hands...and they call me crazy...hehehe. Not my fault they can't see a good time when it's right in front of them.  
  
Why follow the rules when it's all the more amusing to break them all? Bah, not my fault they don't get it. Idiot Pharaoh.   
  
I smiled softly, tracing my fingers over the lust-bruised lips of my young pure lover. He's so confused...contradicting himself. He hates me, but he can't deny that he's attracted to me because of my cruelty...because I don't give a damn what anyone thinks. Like my own Hikari he both abhors and loves me endlessly. Hate and love, lust and power...same difference. His young mind is fascinating, though it disappoints me that I can't travel through it with the ease that the Theif can.   
  
I pouted at the thought. But then He isn't my Hikari, this is just a very temporary shaky vessel for my essence. Poor little Thief's Hikari...think I shattered what will remained in him...hahaha...so much fun!   
  
Much more fun then my own Hikari! Mm....wonder how Thief is treating my Hikari? Mmmm...hehe...Thief is so funny...smart too...wonder what my dear chibi Hikari will be like when he returns? Hmm...guess I'll find out in three sun rises and sets.   
  
I smiled, laying back on the black silk covers...black's my favorite color, along with red...blood red...  
  
Shifting onto my side I pulled the white-haired boy into my arms. He moaned in my grasp, struggling a little as his eyes snapped open. Fearfully they shot up to meet mine. He trembled in my gasp, trying to shrink away from me.   
  
I smiled possessively and kissed him hard on the lips, pulling his body closer to me so his head was resting on my collarbone. I could feel tears dribbling down my flesh, his body shaking against mine as he finally gave up and clung to me as he sobbed. I reveled in the power I could feel surging through my very blood.   
  
A broken twisted mirror...mine, mine, mine! Hehe...hmm...maybe I pay visit to Thief and my Hikari...no...no, not 'till later. I want to give the Thief a little more quality time with my Hikari before I return to retrieve him. Mm, then we can a wonderful little reunion...hehehe!  
  
Hmmm...wonder what Thief will think of my work on his Hikari? He'll probably laugh. Sometimes I think that Thief is more crazy then the Pharaoh 'n his idiot followers say I am...  
  
I snuggled closer to the white haired Thief's tenshi. He's so warm, so pure. Like my yummy Hikari. Every one of our Hikaris are different. Thief's Hikari is like the cool life-giving raindrops that was so rare in our Ancient World sprinkled with the musky glinting Thief's scent, my Hikari reminds me of those golden sunsets and the scent of Jasmine and metal, Pharaoh's Hikari is all sunshine and light mixed with sugar touched with the cold darkness of his other.  
  
I licked my lips slowly, reveling in the feel of the white haired innocent that laid in my grasp. He was sobbing a little still, and I licked his tears away. He trembled even more at my act before passing out into an uneasy slumber. I snuggled against him, burying my face in that shiny white hair of his.  
  
Beautiful things are meant to be broken.   
  
My Hikari very beautiful...so very fragile too. Strong, oh yes he is...to others but never me. I know every crook and cranny of his delightful body, every thought and every memory that dares stir through his mind is *mine*. Because...he is mine. Oh, Thief's Hikari isn't mine...though I do wish he were. He's a beautiful toy and under my command...momentarily.   
  
I smiled wickedly. The Pharaoh thinks he's so righteous and good, always making those speeches and gathering those weakling mortals underneath his command...hahaha, fools...every last one of them.   
  
They don't dare comprehend the fact that the Pharaoh is merely using them...for what purpose I don't know, nor care really. I've got a Hikari in my arms and another tied to my soul, and the world ready to bow down at myfeet when I choose to make my move. I'll make them all pay then, make them all pay for locking me in that dark place...forced to wait until incomparable hate and anger burned my doorway to this world open again.   
  
I pouted. They didn't understand. Didn't even try to understand for that matter. Crazy and psychotic they call me, as though their words have some sort of power over me. As though by saying them they can cast me out of this world, out of their minds. Hahaha...as if. I'm always there. I'm a Yami. Forged in a darkness they can't even comprehend, foolish little mortals. I'm a piece of that darkness that lives in everything. I'm a part of just what makes a killer long for the sight of their victim's blood, I'm the irresistible murmur that makes people do what they know is wrong. I'm a child of the night, the purest darkness forged from the purest light.   
  
The world's a contradiction, full of them. The very beings that should fear us like no other run straight into our arms, begging for our tainted embrace just as we fall to our knees for those pure little lights. They love us, they hate us, they desire us like nothing in the world. We're a drug, and a Hikari can't get enough of us...just as we can't get enough of them.  
  
Hahahaha...idiots...they'll never understand it. What it feels like to have them whimpering beneath your hands, to feel the satin blood of a foe or passerby victim over their hands...ooh...the screams...you wouldn't *believe* how beautiful that is...how amazing it is to see the life fade from someone's eyes as you play god and send them to the After Life.  
  
No...you'll never know just as they won't...because your scared...just like all of them!  
  
Hehehe...stupid little mortals. You'll never get it. Not that I care. Just means more fun for me while you blunder about in your blindness. The white haired innocent trembled in my arms, his eyes opening blearily. Chocolate orbs opened and looked up to meet my own. I smiled ruefully.  
  
"Wakey, wakey little light."  
  
He moved away instantly from my embrace, but I quickly pinned him beneath me; reaching over to the nightstand to pull the Sennen Rod with the blade extended into my view. He shook under my embrace and I licked his cheek, marking him.  
  
"Wait here, little one. Don't move," I ordered before climbing off him.   
  
I made a great show of walking across the room and out of it with my back turned to him, daring him to try and escape. I heard the bed squeak behind me, and a slow rustling. A smile toke my lips. Ooh, did the innocent have a little spark of rebellion still burning through his mind? Ahh...hehehe...this is going to be fun if he does. Beautiful things are meant to be broken.  
  
I kept my movements fluid and unconcerned, as though I hadn't heard a thing. A true predator never lets the prey know he's aware and waiting for him to make a move. It's a game, all a game. You play cruely and strategically or you lose just like that. I walked into the kitchen and lingered in front of the fridge before reaching past it to grab a glass out of the cabinet. I didn't want beer to slow my senses, even if it did take a lot to, I wanted to be more then alert when Thief's Tenshi made his move.   
  
I filled the glass and toke a couple sips before leaving it there. Retreating from the kitchen I grabbed a pair of handcuffs off a nearby table and made my way back to the bedroom. Unsurprisingly, little Ryou was not lying in the bed. The sheets were in disarray, the sheets marred with the sight of tangy blood.  
  
I licked my lips. He couldn't have gone far. The door to leave here was locked and though the windows were open, the ledges were to small for him to climb up on and it was too high for him to jump without hurting himself too much to run. He was here, in the apartment. His blood racing, his heart beating like an enraged drum. His body sweating with all the fear that raced through his mortal soul.   
  
"Ryou..." I said, a taunt making its way through my voice, "where has Thief's Hikari run to? Hehehe...is hiding...HERE," I shouted, ripping the closet door open, exposing it to the moonlit night.   
  
Nothing.  
  
I paced the room. The walls were thin and I knew he was probably hearing every move I was making, for I was making no attempt to mask them. I wanted him to hear me closing in, feel the vibrations of my footsteps as I closed in. I could practically smell his terror bleeding through the room as he crouched somewhere just waiting for me to find him.   
  
How I love the hunt. Prolonging the pleasure of catching him here only made me feel better.   
  
"Hmm...I know you're here Ryou..." I said, raising my voice only slightly to make sure he could hear me, "I know you're listening to every move I make...praying to every god you know that I won't find you. But I will. You want to know my theory, Ryou? I'm sure you will, its rather interesting," I said as I left the bedroom, he wasn't there.   
  
The actions we had done there earlier would make him want to leave as soon as possible. The object of looking in the closet had been a long shot, but a working one. It had only served to make his heart race and build his hopes of not being found...before I shattered that glimmer of hope that is.  
  
"I theorize that after all these years of living with the Thief will make you want to retreat into dark, small, almost claustrophobic places. Because in the open you'll feel exposed, vulnerable. Because...though you despise being alone in the shadows, it's the only place you can feel somewhat safe. Am I right, Ryou-chan?" Silence answered my voice.   
  
I grinned. I stopped in the living room. Here. He was in here. I knew it. I could *feel* it.  
  
I made a show of looking behind the couches and high chairs, staying away from the small closed -empty- doors of the entertainment center. I chuckled darkly, knowing it will make his young skin crawl and his heart only beat faster. I grinned and walked into the kitchen loudly, my ears pricked up for the slightest sound from the living room. Nothing. I tiptoed around to the other entrance that lead to the hallway through the kitchen and snuck back into the living room. I kneeled next to the two doors.   
  
With an almost palpable rage I yanked the two doors open to reveal two glistening brown eyes and a mane of wild white hair. I felt a smile curve my lips before I was suddenly knocked over on my back by the lithe little ball of mortal fluff. As he wrestled for control against me I could feel the thin cloth of his boxers he'd pulled on before his escape against my bare thighs. I hadn't bothered dressing, the Hikari apparently though had a measure of modesty even now.   
  
One of my numerous daggers was pressed against my throat, the light one straddled my hips, his hair falling around my face. His breath was hot and heavy, though I'm sure mine was the same. The whole situation was arousing me a little. It had been a while since I'd been in almost sneak attack like this. Malik hadn't pulled something like this in a while.   
  
The dagger trembled at my throat, pressing firmly against my jugular. What now, Thief's Hikari? Will you slit my throat? Will you take that step? No, I think not. For while you may feel in control with that weapon in your grasp you know the truth. I'm in control of everything. You have that glittering blade against my throat because I'm LETTING you do it. Because I'm not afraid of death, nor am I afraid of you. Not the same for you little one... I smiled patronizingly at him.  
  
"What are you going to do, Tenshi Ryou? Are you going to kill me? Do it, and you'll kill Malik-chan...and while you might hate me, you care about him..." the knife trembled, a could see what little resolve he had crumbling, "and even if his life wasn't on the line too, you know you couldn't kill me. You don't have it in you."  
  
He gritted his teeth, his brow furrowing as he was caught at an indecision. His hand trembled again and I felt a slight sting and a warm dribble. The sight of the warm liquid that I'm sure raced down my throat made his eyes widen and a choking sob fight its way up. I laughed at him as he threw the knife across the room, impaling it in the far wall. Nice shot for a weakling.   
  
He didn't move off me, his body sagging as what little force he used to try and keep me from rising cleared away. I moved my legs subtly, shifting my weight ever so slightly. He didn't even see it coming. I loosened an arm from his grasp and backhanded him hard across the face. Warm blood gushed from his lip as I flipped him beneath me, grinning like the madman I was. I laughed at him as I leaned up, straddling his hipsconfidently. He couldn't get up if he tried. I'm far the stronger of us.   
  
Pearly tears ran in a river down his face. His eyes were begging me not to hurt him...but why shouldn't I? He's so very lovely when in pain...So very beautiful...and like I said before, beautiful things are meant to be broken. I stood and lifted him up into my arms. He didn't fight me at first as I began to lead him to the bedroom. I laid him on the bed, that's when the fire came back. The crying pathetic-ness in his eyes dissolved to pinpoints of panic. His body tensed and he jumped up and tried to run for the door, I grabbed him around the waist as he kicked and screamed.  
  
He elbowed me in the stomach *hard* and kicked the one part of me that lovers had often touched in reverence. I bended over, my grip going limp on him as my eyes exploded into starbursts of pure unbridled pain and for that matter, anger. Oh, he was going to pay for that!  
  
Growling in rage I suppressed the agony that seared through my loins and chased him out of the bedroom. If it had been any other that dared such a thing, except my Hikari of course, they'd have been dead in an instant. But, I liked the Thief...it was so hard to find a good partner these days anyway. And besides, death is often a Ra-given miracle. He would suffer for this. Oh yes, he would.  
  
I caught him just as he was opening the door. I slammed it shut with my hand, my body pining his as I restrained his legs with my own in case he dared to try that little maneuver again. Which reminds me, I have to get even with my own Hikari for doing the same thing during their little "escape" the night before...   
  
He pushed and shoved against me, swinging out with his fists as he tried to land a solid hit. I grabbed his wrists and slammed them hard against the wood door. A hellish fury was burning in my eyes, reflected in his own as his chest heaved up and down. The Hikari known as Ryou was not a fighter by nature, I knew this for a fact.  
  
But I also knew that any Hikari when provoked can and will fight for their lives, their sanity, their bare pure soul. Guess I pushed a few buttons...Hehehe...fun, fun, fun!  
  
I whirled around and dragged him to the center of the room, lifting him slightly to cuff his hands to the ceiling by the cuffs that hung from there. Put there just for this purpose. I wrapped a black silk blindfold around his eyes, destroying whatever leverage his senses could give him. Hearing and smell was all he had now. And both of those would be of little use to him at the moment.  
  
His breathing was heavy and I circled him, watching in amusement as he kicked out at every sound I made. He stopped after he realized he was only draining himself and making his wrists chaff and bleed from his fruitless efforts. He hung there silently, his raspy breathing the only sound between us.   
  
"...lemme down, onegai...I'm...I'm sorry...Marik-sama..." he begged softly, his voice cracking...recognizing at last just how much control I had over him.  
  
I laughed at him loudly.  
  
"I don't think you are, slave," I said, watching his whole body bristle at what I called him. Demeaning him completely by terming him such. "I think you enjoyed every second of it. You defied me, little one. And you will pay for it."  
  
I walked away and pulled the dagger he'd thrown earlier out of the wall and walked back over to him. I wrapped my arms around him from behind to hold him still and began to carve into his back. He thrashed instantly but I held him fast, leaning forward to brush my lips against his ear.  
  
"Hold still Hikari, my amusement at your defiance runs thin..."  
  
He stopped moving instantly, his whole body shaking as I returned to my carvings on his higher back. There were still some healing marks there, burn marks I belive. I moved higher, past them a little since I didn't want my own writeings to be obscured by the scars the burns would leave. I wrote Bakura's name first in hieroglyphics, making them deep and firm enough to scar. Underneath I drew the Sennen Eye in perfect detail.   
  
Ryou was sobbing now, his body trembling. Crimson rained down his back, blocking out my lovely designs. His cries aroused me only further, to the point where it nearly hurt.  
  
I brought the dagger down and cut off his boxers, and walked in front him to completely bask in his beauty. His face was a mask of perfect sorrow, the bruises and countless scares only served to highlight the vulnerable beauty of him. I licked my lips and kissed him hard, reaching up to rip off the blindfold as I tasted the sweetness of him. I pulled away. I had to see his eyes. Had to see the submission lying there.   
  
The fires of rebellion had burned out, leaving only a shell of a person behind. Perfect. I ran my fingers down his face.   
  
"We'll continue our game later. I'm going to leave you here to think your actions." I dug my nails into his cheek and dug them down, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to make my point.   
  
Turning I walked away and to the couch. I laid down, looking over at him with hooded eyes. Perhaps I'll take a nap before continuing with him...A smile of bliss toke my lips as I closed my eyes, two Hikaris danced through my mind. One with long platinum hair, the other with wild white. Crimson was flowing over their faces, their eyes wide and pitiful in their weakness. Beautiful...   
  
  
  
A.n.- 'n' we stop there:). Heh...that was my first try at a Marik p.o.v. I hope I did well^_^. 'n' I hope you enjoyed this chapter too:). Review onegai, so I'll know to add more^_^. 


	7. Malik's POV

A.n.-Gomen for the wait, I've been really busy with Don't Think Of Me II...Still...I hope ya'all like this...and Chibi_Ai I decided to take your advice. This chappie is in Malik-chan's p.o.v. I'm thinking of doin' the next chappie in Yuugi's p.o.v. See how he's doin' while all this chaos is goin' down^_^. Hope ya like it 'n' don't forget to review!^_^   
  
  
  
And Marsdemon, I'm happy that you like my work so much^_^. I hope this chappie quenches your addiction^_~. Ty again:)  
  
  
  
And...guess I did make Marik a lil' sadistic, ne?^_^ Well...after seeing him in a few jap eps and ours...he kinda strikes me as bein' sorta sadistic...I'm happy I did his char justice!^_^ Ty everyone!^_^  
  
  
  
Also, to those of you who asked why Bakura-chan wasn't upset about Marik raping Ryou-chan and went into a murderous rage whenever Yugioh held him...you'll find out when I manage to whip out another Bakura-chan p.o.v^_~  
  
  
  
'N' to all of you reading Dark Flame...the next chappie is comin' very soon; as for the next chapter to "Without You"...will be posted not long after this. Probably about ten minutes afterward...so...here it comes^_^  
  
  
  
Dedication-R_Amythest, Chibi-Ai, Gues, Chibi_Ai, Fyredra, Irssatin, Draggy, Marsdemon, Thockie, Crossover Authoress, Winged Wolf, Yaoifan, Millenium Elf, Yami no Hikari, Shitsumon, and Hotaruchan27. Arigato all of you!!^_^_^_^I was sooo happy when I read all of your reviews! I promise not to make ya'all wait so long again for the next chappie to this!   
  
  
  
  
  
"I cannot take this anymore, saying everything I said before  
  
All these words they make no sense I found this in ignorance  
  
Less I hear, the less you say...you'll find that out anyway  
  
Just like before..."  
  
  
  
"Everything you say to me, takes me one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break  
  
I need a little room to pray, 'cause I'm one step closer to the edge I'm about to break,"  
  
  
  
"I find the answers are so clear, wish I could find a way to disappear  
  
All these thoughts they make no sense, I found this in ignorance  
  
Nothing seems to go away over and over again...just like before."  
  
  
  
"Somewhere I belong…" Linkin Park  
  
  
  
  
  
He's worse then my Yami.  
  
  
  
At least I can *feel* when my Yami is near, when his murderous rage has begun to build and I need to run like a bat out of hell. But not Yami no Bakura. His eyes...those hard chocolate brown eyes with the color of blood simmering near the pupil never give way to what he's thinking. He lets me wander through the house, watching me with those demonic eyes of his.   
  
  
  
The fear is quaking in me. Yami no Bakura knows that pain doesn't bother me. I don't like it, but I have a high tolerance for it. And to compensate for that he's decided to try to drive me even further out of my friggin' MIND! I breathed slowly as I curled up tighter in the small, cramped corner of the living room.   
  
  
  
Like Tenshi-chan, I don't like the dark. I hate being surrounded in its suffocating hold, but I can't risk being in the light. He'll find me way to easy then. I walked away from my Yami thinking I could handle whatever Yami no Bakura threw at me; that I had nothing to worry about unlike Tenshi-chan. I was wrong. So very wrong. And now my mind instead of my body pays the price. Ra damn it! He's driving me INSANE! Or was I already crazy? I don't know...don't know...don't know...every thing is so muddled and confused...  
  
  
  
Wait! What was that sound?! It creaked...somewhere...near me, yes near me. Close to the staircase in the other room. I pulled my legs to my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around them. I grimaced at the squeak my feet made across the floor. Just bloody brilliant Malik! What, do you want that sadistic bastard to find you or what?!  
  
  
  
I tried so slow my rapid breathing, it was too loud...he'd surely hear. I was safe...for the moment...I couldn't let him find...can't let him find me...I chewed on my nail nervously, letting my platinum blonde hair to fall around my face. I was dressed in a pair of Tenshi-chan's loose khaki pants and one of his spare t-shirts. My clothes had been ripped and bloodied so many times that all was left was rags. And I'll be damned before I walk around in rags like *his* slave. Oh wait, I am damned...I'm stuck with psycho for a Yami and a sadistic tomb robber driveling me up the freakin' wall! I'm already in HELL!  
  
Breathe, Malik...breathe...breathe...in out...in and out...yeah...think...think about good things...yes, happy things...  
  
  
  
Like...the first time I really meet Tenshi-chan. Yami no Bakura and my Yami were off arguing in the other room of the house...and it was here...in this room we first met. Tenshi-chan had been cleaning up some broken glass, from a vase his Yami had thrown at his head. Crimson had been running down the side of his face, his long slender fingers bathing in blood as the shards cut into his flesh.   
  
  
  
I remember...yes, I'd kneeled down and helped him pick it up. He'd looked up at me, into my eyes with such...innocence. An innocence I felt I had lost a very long time ago. To my Yami. When I learned just what malice and cruelty really meant. When I meet my own personal version of the devil who oh so wonderfully had been joined to my very soul.   
  
He'd known just as I had when I'd seen him through my Yami's eyes (he let me watch when he was in control some times, not often but once in a while) that I was a hikari. That we were alike, bonded together through violence and pure undying cruelty. We became close - our Yami's didn't really care. The closer we were, the more they didn't have to worry about Yuugi and the others getting curious about why we spent so much time together. See no evil, hear no evil. I heard that somewhere, though I can't recall where...see no evil, hear no evil...  
  
  
  
I wrapped my arms tighter around myself. The darkness around me seemed to have taken shapes, menacing cruel shapes. Eyes of hardened chips of lavender seemed to glare at me with eyes of a glossy evil brownish red. My heartbeat jumped several notches. Laughter seemed to resonate around me. I shut my eyes tighter, my breath quickening suddenly.  
  
  
  
Fear was pounding through my very soul. The sweat that dribbled down my flesh suddenly seemed too much to bear, like heavy weights rushing down my body. I opened my eyes slowly. The eyes were gone, but the mocking laughter remained. It seemed so loud, vibrating around the walls to hit my ears like a hammer. My ears seemed to bleed from the sound.   
  
  
  
The room seemed smaller then I remember. The walls seemed to be edging closer and closer. I pushed myself farther against the wall. Against my will I rose my eyes to the ceiling. It, too, was lower, swooping down to meet me. All I had to do was raise my head a little higher and my hair would touch it.   
  
  
  
Not real...not real...not real...not real...none of this is real...its all in my head...all in my head...the room is wider...everything is okay. I could feel a sob fighting its way up my throat. It wasn't working. The room seemed to only be getting smaller.   
  
  
  
There! What was that?! Footsteps...oh my god it was a footstep...so close too...in the other room...He wasn't masking his movements anymore. He wants me to *feel* him closing in. Meaning he knows just where I am but letting me have a false sense of security that maybe he *won't* find me. I know the trick, my own Yami had used it once or twice. I had to hide. Yes...but where?  
  
  
  
I leaned down on all fours and crawled slowly across the room and into one of the doors away from where I'd heard the footsteps. Tenshi-chan had two exits to this room. One leading to hallway, the other into the kitchen. I crawled swiftly into the other room, trying to slow my rapid breathing. The ceiling seemed to be getting lower, my head bumped it as I went; it felt like the walls were trying to crush me too.   
  
Not real...the rooms wider...focus, Malik, you got to get out of here unless you want to be skinned alive! I shook my head vigorously, forcing myself to imagine the room wider and the ceiling higher...it's all in my head...I opened my eyes and saw the room had returned to normal, though it was still bathed in a velvet darkness.  
  
  
  
Comforted by this slight victory, no matter how small, I made my way toward the connecting hallway to the kitchen. I crawled slowly, freezing at even the sounds my mind envisioned. I suddenly realized the laughing from earlier had also stopped. Thank Ra. I wouldn't be able to hear Yami no Bakura's approach with my ears raw from the shadows attempt to drive what little sanity I've left into oblivion.   
  
  
  
Nothing. Absolute silence. Still I waited. Yami no Bakura was a Tomb Robber in ancient Egypt (I'd gathered that much from the Pharaoh always yelling that as an insult when he saw him;) hiding from me, a mere mortal with no such training like him, would be an easy task. He'd apparently, according my Yami, had been the greatest Tomb Robber Egypt had ever seen. One doesn't gain that title by accident, you know.   
  
  
  
All I saw was a blur of white and demonic diamond hard eyes before I was lifted up by my throat and thrown into the hallway. My back collided hard with the wood walls, my mind whirled and churned as I fell to the ground. I could taste blood in my mouth, all coppery and cold, like ice. I shut my eyes tight and fought through the agony tearing through my tender back. He'd thrown me onto it too many times to count already. I hurried to all fours and climbed quickly up the stairs. I heard the worst sound then. Yami no Bakura's icy laughter that seemed to echo all through the house. A laugh of pure amusement. This was all a game to him. A game of cat and mouse. Guess who's the mouse? That's right, me.   
  
  
  
Raising myself up to my two feet I ran down the hall and into Tenshi-chan's room. I slammed the door in a frenzy of terror behind me and realized belatedly that Tenshi-chan's room had no lock. I cursed fervently beneath my breath as I searched with my eyes for any way to improvise while pressing my back hard into it. I wasn't going to open that door without a fight.   
  
There! A chair! I nearly fainted with relief. I grabbed it quickly and wedged it beneath the doorknob before backing away slowly. Nothing. No pounding on it, no curses from the other side. Nothing. Just pure silence. This is what I'm talking about. My Yami would have been banging on the door by now. Trying to frighten me. That or would have tried to appeal to me in that voice. That voice of pure longing that none can resist. As though he would die if I did not respond, did not open the door.   
  
  
  
But nothing. No sound from Yami no Bakura. He had beaten me, used and abused my body in the same manner as my Yami...but Yami no Bakura was like burning ice while my Yami was like a blazing inferno. Yami No Baura sat in the darkness and waited for his prey, giving them a brief respite before pulling it away. Making him more dangerous then my own. It's bad enough they're both crazy and love the feel of crimson across their hands, but they're smart too. Which didn't make my current situation any better.  
  
  
  
I walked over to the bed and sat down, drawing my knees to my chest as I leaned against the wall the bed was propped against. It smelled of Tenshi-chan. The scent calmed me slightly, calmed the frantic beat of my heart. Tenshi-chan was different from anyone I had ever meet before, the fact that he was a hikari and dealt with a sadistic Yami like mine.   
  
  
  
He...had always been there since we meet. Unlike any one else on this whole Ra forsaken planet, he'd listened and understood. I had bared everything to him, and not feared rejection. In a world of uncertainty...he was solid and there. Like Isis, he could calm my fears. Isis was gone now though. Yami didn't let me see her, the threat of her death should I violate the laws he had laid hung like a pendulum over my head.   
  
  
  
Tenshi-chan was just that to me. An angel. Though he believed he had no light in him, that it was swallowed and consumed by the dark force who he shared his soul, I knew different. I could see it in his eyes. They weren't jaded like mine, an empty husk where no sort of purity really could dwell. He was different. Not naive as the Pharaoh's Hikari, how could he be anymore? But so very innocent in his own way. He had a light that couldn't be drowned, no matter what he thought.  
  
"Hello Malik."  
  
  
  
The voice was smooth and perfect, poison was laced in that deadly voice that jerked me from my reverie in an instant. The pure poison of its endless rapture shot through my ears. How did he get in here? How did he...? It was a useless thought. He was a Yami, the greatest Tomb Robber of all Egypt...and I was surprised he got into a room without my noticing? Stupid...so stupid of me...  
  
  
  
He shoved me to the side and turned me roughly onto my back before straddling me by the hips before I could even raise my eyes to pinpoint his position in the room. His long spiky mane of white hair fell around my face as he stared into my eyes with cool indifference. No compassion laid in those eyes of cruel beauty, no kindness nor hate. Just pure uncaring. A smug pride perhaps, but that emotion always seeped from him. As though the game was useless to play because he'd already won. Maybe he was right about that. It was nearly impossible to win against the steely Yami that lay on top of me.   
  
  
  
My breathing had hitched but I slowed it quickly to normal. Show fear and he'd pounce on it. I could squirm and let my tears rain through my mind as blinding terror swept through me like a hurricane later. Show any weak emotion and he'd pounce like a panther on the scent of blood of a wounded animal.   
  
  
  
He tilted his head, sitting up straight on me as he stared down with his nose pointing at me. "I expected more of a challenge from Marik's Hikari, Malik," he said, his voice riveted with disproval, even a slight pout that a child would have when a game wasn't all it was made to be.  
  
  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you," I replied dryly.  
  
  
  
He laughed at my words. His eyes glittering with pleasure at my response. I felt a sudden fiery resolve not to me concurred by this dark force before me. Not to bow down at his will like I had countless times before with my own Yami. I didn't want to fall crumpled at his feet, to cower before him suddenly seemed so...wrong.   
  
  
  
"And I expected more from the 'Greatest Tomb Robber' of Ancient Egypt," I said, twisting my lips into a smirk. "What is it you really want here, Bakura?" I watched his eyes narrow slightly as I had left off the respectable 'sama' to his name. "Do you want me to run around screaming when I see you? Fat chance."  
  
  
  
He smirked, "Still have some spirit left, do you Hikari no Marik? Good...it makes this more fun."  
  
  
  
"How did you get in here?" I looked carefully out of the corner of my eye at the door. The chair was still propped against the doorknob.  
  
  
  
He grinned. "I was already in here. You need to exercise, Malik. You were too slow getting up those stairs. I didn't throw you *that* hard," he said, his voice had taken a sort of mocking reprimanding tone.   
  
  
  
"What is the point of all this, Bakura? Why are you and my Yami going through all this trouble? Don't you think the Pharaoh will notice what's going on here eventually and banish your Ra-forsaken soul to the Shadow Realm?" I spat the words harshly, keeping my face a mask of defiance instead of the fear that was quaking through my mind.  
  
  
  
There was one advantage to having Yami no Bakura as my current 'yami' more or less: he couldn't read my mind, feel my emotions, transverse through my memories to know my deepest fears and desire. Oh sure, he can create scenes of torment and see how I react to try and figure them out, but he can't just automatically know them like my own Yami. A very, very small advantage yes...but it was all I had.   
  
  
  
The Sennen Ring felt like ice through Tenshi-chan's thin t-shirt. Heavy and cold around my neck, like an ever hanging weight to prove my servitude to the Yami before me and my own. I found myself missing the smooth gold Sennen Rod. It was mine, it housed a psycho but it was still mine. The Yami before me wasn't mine. My soul ached, crying out in agony for the other half that was truly mine.   
  
  
  
Yami no Bakura's presence soothed the never ending screams...but they didn't subdue them. Not like my Yami did. They were both horrible, cruel, evil in every way possible and had abused both Tenshi-chan and I in more ways then one...but they were still our Yamis. They were still the other halve to our soul.   
  
  
  
And as much as I loathed to admit it...I love him. I love my Yami more then anything in the world. But at the same time I hate him so much I'd kill the son-of-a-bitch if I thought I had half a chance. Just as I'd kill the white haired demon on me if I knew it wouldn't kill my Tenshi-chan. Yami no Bakura slid off of me suddenly, lying next to me on the bed instead.   
  
  
  
He smiled at me, running a finger down my face. His face had changed to one of sincere curiosity, of open love and undying devotion, of caring. His hair seemed softer, and the lines of his face seemed less harsh and sadistic. For a single second I found myself half believing that Yami no Bakura had left and my beloved Tenshi-chan lay next to me.  
  
I won't deny that I love Tenshi-chan as more then a brother, but as a lover. I had for the longest time. But while we may share each other's pain and fears, we can never truly be together. For reasons I'll never truly understand he has feelings for the Pharaoh. I won't deny that I don't like the Pharaoh at all.  
  
  
  
Something about him...it's always rubbed me the wrong way. Or maybe it's because my Yami hates him so much or maybe it's a sort of twisted jealously that he doesn't treat Yuugi the way Yami no Bakura and my Yami treat us. I don't know. Or maybe I hate him because he captured Tenshi-chan's heart in a way that I could not. It doesn't really matter though.  
  
  
  
Yami no Bakura...or was it Ryou?...touched my face. Softly, almost revertly...as though seeing me for the very first time. His eyes...they didn't seem so hard now...but so open. Not filled with innocence...but something else...something I couldn't even describe. He leaned forward and kissed me.   
  
  
  
Lightening shot through my senses, a desire I held back for the real Tenshi-chan crashing through me like the waves of pure unbridled passion. It wasn't like any kiss I'd ever experienced. No lust, no demands, nothing...but giving. Sweet and light, giving not taking. I reached up and took his face in my hands, diving into the kiss with all my might.   
  
  
  
His hands wrapped around me, slipping halfway beneath the shirt and onto my skin. I felt like I was on fire, the single innocent kiss turned my mind and soul, teared and rebuilt me in ways one cannot truly understand. I didn't want this moment of peace to end. I was devouring his mouth, moving to be on top of the silver haired vixen.   
  
  
  
His lips...I couldn't get enough of them. Sweet like the flames of hell, with a touch of heaven no one can ever grasp. Intimacy beyond intimacy, love beyond anything was firing through my senses. I'd never felt like this. So in control yet out of control. His tongue shot through my mouth, tasting and teaseling.   
  
  
  
Suddenly the touch turned more dominate, more aggressive and I found myself pinned beneath him. All at once subtle differences began to make themselves known. Tenshi-chan wasn't this muscled, and he was moving with experience I damn well knew he didn't really have. Like me, he'd always been the submissive one to his Yami's touch. Never the opposite. So why the sudden change?   
  
  
  
A sharp pain. Blood. In my mouth. Coppery and hot, bittersweet to my senses.  
  
  
  
YAMI NO BAKURA!!  
  
  
  
The thought was sudden and stabbed through my soul like a rusty knife. With all my strength I wrestled my face away from his, staring up with hurt eyes. So he knew. Knew of my feelings for his Hikari and had used them against me in a sick sort of game.   
  
  
  
He smiled at me, his sharp teeth glinting in the blue light cast by the moon, "What's wrong, Malik?"  
  
  
  
"You had no right..."  
  
  
  
He laughed harshly, "I have every right, don't you know that? Ryou is my Hikari, and you like him don't you? You can't have him without having me, Malik. We are one."  
  
  
  
"By some sick twist of fate," I retorted.  
  
  
  
"I'm losing patience with you, Malik. You don't want to try the rack so soon again do you?"  
  
  
  
All at once the rebellion seemed to fall away from me. All the strength, all the defiance just wasted away.   
  
  
  
"No," I said softly, my voice lacking its earlier strength.   
  
  
  
Oh what a weakling I've become. Buckling underneath this dark angel of hell. Bowing my head so as not to feel more pain. Never daring to hope for anything better. Why hope when it just come back to bite you square in the ass?  
  
  
  
"Good," he purred.  
  
His lips were on me again. Pliant and firm. I didn't resist. His hands slipped beneath Tenshi-chan's shirt and twisted and teased my nipples until I couldn't deny the sprout of pleasure that started to ease through me. Why resist? It only brought pain. And no matter what may come after this, at least I have this moment of peace. Of pleasure in this dark misery.  
  
And if I close my eyes just tight enough, I can pretend that it's someone else whose hands are upon me. As though sensing my thoughts I felt a sharp sting across my face that forced me to open my eyes. I could feel crimson dribbling through my mouth from the blow, my cheek stinging. I rose my eyes to take in Yami no Bakura's expression. Fury.  
  
  
  
"Never do that again."  
  
  
  
I knew what he meant and I nodded slightly. Resistance is futile, why attempt any more? Better to give in. Yami no Bakura and my Yami are my masters. I am here because of them, I am their slave. The thought held so much shame and self-loathing for allowing myself to sink this low. To crumble beneath them. To lean into the hand that had beaten me into an inch of my life and then some.  
  
  
  
But they are darkness, purest of the pure. Children of the seamless darkness. Kindness and light, compassion and caring...those are things they do not know and thus hate. Destruction, death, pain, searing white-hot agony and power are all they know and can understand. They love the scent of crimson across their face, cries of the purest torture are music to their ears. A Hikari is all sweetness and light, it is our nature to shy from the things that our Yamis so love.   
  
  
  
The thought gave a sort of blinding clarity to the situation I was in. Yami no Bakura's kisses were so desperate because I was a Hikari like his own. Because in me I still held those abilities that only a Hikari has. The light that isn't all that drowned the cruelness that they shower us with. By the dark cloak they'd thrown over us to hide us from the world.   
  
  
  
They love because they hate us.   
  
  
  
We love them because they're everything we've ever wanted.  
  
  
  
We can be torn from each other, but Ra knows we'll spend all of eternity trying to find each other again. Because, like it or not, we're meant for each other. We're all each other know. We're all each of us want. My yami abuses me, tears my hair and rips my flesh until I'm nothing but a bloody mess.   
  
  
  
But he's also brought me soup when I was sick. Cuddled me when my body was wracking with the chills the sickness had bestowed. He's destroyed the soul of any who dare to hurt me. Including my father. I loved my father and hated him. Not how I hate my Yami but in a different way. A pure hatred that begged for him to die.  
  
  
  
I hate my Yami, but I don't want to lose him. Because I know that being without him would be far worse then being *with* him. I'm a Hikari. I may not be as naive as Yuugi-kun, or as sweetly innocent as Tenshi-chan...but I am still a Hikari. And like those two, to be without my Yami would do worse then kill me. It'd tear my soul beyond comparison... in ways that even a Yami cannot fully imagine.  
  
  
  
I could feel my hands roaming Yami no Bakura's chest. He was being gentler then he had been earlier. Giving me pleasure just as he gave himself some. I kissed him then without care, feeling a single tear make its way down my face.  
  
  
  
The faces in the shadows were laughing at me again. Laughing at the pathetic whore I had become in the arms of sprit of the Sennen Ring. It was bad enough when I was just my Yami's whore...now I'm my Yami's best friend's whore too. Though to be fair, I feel more sorry for Tenshi-chan right now. Ra knows he's going through the same hell as me.   
  
I tasted blood in my mouth as Yami no Bakura bit my bottom lip to gain access to my mouth. I welcomed him in. There was no point to resist. He'd get what he wanted either way. At least if I gave in, I wouldn't get hurt anymore. I didn't want to go back on the wrack. My back is still aching from being whipped with that five-tailed whip from Osiris that he'd used on me yesterday.   
  
  
  
Only a couple of the wounds were deep enough to scar and were still burning like fire, but I'd used Tenshi-chan's pain-relieving ointment yesterday and today so I couldn't really feel the pain anymore. I couldn't feel much of anything one any level really. It was like I was disconnected from my body.   
  
  
  
So I let go. I let myself be dragged into the endless abyss of darkness in this Yami's embrace.   
  
  
  
Until I had lost myself in his deep night like I had countless times before with my own Yami....  
  
  
  
  
  
A.n.-'n' we stop there. What did ya all think? I hope ya'all liked it...review onegai n' tell me what ya thought! ^_^_^ 


	8. Yuugi's POV

A.N.- Yup, I'm not dead...but I have been busy with a lot of things I won't go into...sorry this is so short...but it is a p.o.v. I think you'll all like. It's Yuugi-kun^_^. Enjoy, review onegai:)  
  
Dedication-R Amythest, Just Call Me Cheese!, Shadowrealmdemon, Ashuri Chan,Alz-chan, Bakuraluva, Firedraygon97, Draggy2, Thockie, Fyredra, Charredrose, Blak Magician Girl3, Shitsumon, Rogue Solus, Guess, Kami Beverly, Bronze Eagle, Crossover Authoress, Hana no Ceres, Marsdemon,   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
There's a thin line between love and hatred.  
  
You wander near it, skidding across the surface. Looking for one moment with adoring eyes and the next with a rage so deep that you could paint the room a thousand times with their blood and never reach the center of your anger.   
  
It's a funny thing really. Love and hate...they are one and the same, you know. An endless loop that no one can ever really escape from. They motivate someone. For either "good" or "evil". They can be either depending on the point of view. That's what everything is determined upon. Point of view.   
  
I leaned back in the window, staring up at the empty sky. Rolling clouds assaulted my vision, a brisk wind rushing over my chilled flesh. I tilted my head back, letting my hair be lifted by the icy hand of the wind. Looking down at the gleaming Sennen Item around my neck, I touched it gently. Yami had locked himself in his soul room yet again, his thoughts barred away from my own.  
  
I growled, stalking across my room and to my closet. Opening it, I quickly shrugged out of my pajamas and grabbed a black t-shirt out of the closet. Slipping it on, I walked over to my drawers and pulled out a pair of blue jeans. Dressed at last I reached farther into my sock drawer and around the corner of it, pulling out a single pack of cigarettes and a lighter.   
  
Clutching them in my hand I grabbed my jacket and threw it on, shoving the pack and the lighter into my pockets. Walking over to my open window I climbed out slowly before dropping to the ground. A numb pain shot up my legs as they folded beneath me and sent me sprawling on my butt.   
  
Shaking my head slightly I pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took in a lungful. Relaxation shot up through my body as the nicotine sought its way through my entire body.   
  
Before the Puzzle fell into my hands, I would've been too scared to walk through the streets of Domino in the dead of night. Afraid of whatever dangers may lurk in the shadows. I'm not afraid anymore. Hell, bring it on. I've nothing left in this world to fear, and everything to lose. Everything.   
  
I sighed, glancing forlornly up. It's strange really. How things turn out, I mean. After all, who'd of thought little shrimpy Yuugi would carry the fate of the entire world on his shoulders. Who'd have thought that it would be my actions that would decide the lives of thousands, be the pebble that tips the tables into the favor of either light or darkness.   
  
I was the Hero of this little drama that was playing forth.   
  
That's a lie though. I'm not the hero, I'm the vessel for the hero. My Yami. The ancient Pharaoh locked in a single, shiny little gold object for five thousand years awaiting for the other half of his soul to put him back together again.   
  
Sometimes I hate him for that.  
  
For stealing away my life and replacing it with his. For making it where no matter what I do, I'll always be overshadowed. No matter how hard I try, no matter how much I want to be seen...I never will. I'll always be lost in his image. Even my "friends" don't really see me any more. They see only my Yami. Only him.   
  
And to top it all off, I had to go and fall in love with him too.   
  
But then, above all of them *I* have a reason to love him. For who knows him better then me? Who knows of the dark insanity that rivets through his mind, how at times he's holding on by the barest of strands? How so many times he's felt the ever growing call of the Shadow Realm and all of it's powers lingering at his finger tips, nearly begging him to reclaim the world that was once his.   
  
Am I not the one that knows the man beyond the Pharaoh?  
  
Am I not the light to his darkness? Am I not the one who completes him in ways others never could?  
  
Why? *Why* then? Why is it that I am so over looked? Why is my love cast away before it is even given a glance?  
  
The heavy taste of bitter regret hung on my tongue, the ashes of my broken dreams nearly choking me.   
  
But more then anything, I hate HIM.  
  
Bakura Ryou. The poor, white haired tenshi that everyone loves and pities. The one who holds everyone in his thrall with but a bat of his pretty chocolate brown eyes. It's NOT FAIR!  
  
I growled, taking another deep drag of my cigarette before stomping it out and relighting another. My nerves felt raw, my very skin burning in the cool sweep of the breeze that flittered past.   
  
What had I done to deserve this? Why was I the one that was always overlooked in favor of him...it wouldn't be so bad, not really, if the white haired hikari had not stolen away the one person whose attention really meant anything to me. My own Yami. Stole his heart away from me. He's my Yami. MINE. Not Ryou's...Ryou's is that psycho Tomb Robber.   
  
I felt my eyes burn. Tears of rage and frustration tried to fight their way forward but I shoved them back. My tears are spent, festering from sorrow to a blinding hate that I can barely contain. I know this is wrong, I'm a Hikari...I'm not suppose to hate...if Jounouchi-kun knew of the deep loathing I felt he'd probably disown me as his friend forever. I don't care anymore. I've lost everything...and I can see no way to ever truly regain what I lost. How can it hurt so much to lose something I never really had?   
  
My hands were shaking bad and absently I dropped what was left of my cigarette and stomped it out. I wandered aimlessly down the sidewalks. I had blocked my dear Yami completely from my mind, just as he had blocked me from his. It was strange really. I almost felt like I was alone in my own head for once. Almost a frightening thought.  
  
I rubbed my hands up and down my shoulders, feeling an age-old sorrow and the vengeful head of self-pity rearing it's ugly head with every breath I toke. I was tired, tired of all of this. Of being pushed aside, always over looked by even the one being in this world who completed my very soul. It's just...it's not fair is all.   
  
I glanced up. My feet had lead me to the Domino bridge. I glanced down into the dark, sparkling waters below. Placid and cold, it stared back at me with an ageless gaze. I leaned over, bracing myself with my hands. It'd be so easy to throw myself off. To lose myself in the oblivion below. But what would that really accomplish? Nothing, not in the end at least.   
  
After all, it wasn't me that would be mourned. It would be Yami. And besides...I just...I don't want to die anyway. Even if it means I'll be living in a shadow forever, lost within my own growing hate...I just don't want to go yet. And...who knows...maybe he'll notice me. I snorted. What a fantasy line that was. But still...  
  
I felt my insides stiffen, my blood rushing hotly in my veins, my heart jumping up a few extra beats and pounding against my chest like an enraged drum.   
  
I whirled around, my muscles freezing, my eyes lavender eyes wide.   
  
"Yami no Bakura," I whispered, the name stolen from my mind and echoing off my lips.   
  
Yes, it was he alright. Wild silver hair hung like a halo around his sharply lined face. Garnet-brown eyes simmered like a liquid inferno, mesmerizing and impossible to resist. He smirked, the expression seeming so perfect, so right on his face.   
  
He was my mortal enemy, or my Yami's at least. I'd never really had much of a quarrel with him. Saying his name to his face just now is the first words he and I have ever exchanged. Yami usually took control the instant his presence was sensed. Suddenly frantic, I cheeked our link. His still blocked me and mine still blocked him; the wall so strong that he had not even felt his arch rival's approach.  
  
"If it isn't the *Pharaoh's* Hikari. Isn't it past your bed time, little boy?" he sneered.  
  
I stiffened, feeling a hot rush of pride mixed with shame rise deep within my very soul.  
  
"My name is Yuugi, and I go to bed when I want to."  
  
I leaned back against the concrete banister, feeling all my fear suddenly slip away. I don't know why, exactly, but I just...wasn't afraid any more. Even if the fiend could kill me in less then three seconds, I just...felt calm. And a little resigned.  
  
He seemed amused at my answer and moved closer to me, tilting his head to the side.  
  
"Really now?" he raised a single, white eyebrow, "I'm surprised his High n' Mighty Pharaoh hasn't popped his cowardly ass out of the Puzzle. Too afraid to face his enemy is he? Prefers to hide within his Hikari."  
  
I chuckled, "Yami doesn't fight all my battles. And that could be said for you as well. You hide behind Ryou's eyes the same as Yami does my own."  
  
He snorted, "But I don't use him to fight my battles. Not that he could. Bloody weakling."  
  
I shrugged, "Maybe that's why they all love him. Because he's weak and needs protection. Mostly from you."  
  
He bristled, "And what does that mean, young Hikari? Aren't you afraid, Little Yuugi? I could kill you now, strip you of your puzzle...."  
  
He let the sentence hang, trying to frighten me I suppose.  
  
"You could. But what would it matter? Yami would probably be happy if you did."  
  
He snickered slightly, "Do I sense some jealousy?"  
  
I growled slightly, "No."  
  
He moved closer to me suddenly, scent of incense surrounded me so completely I felt dizzy for a moment...but in a good way. My eyes rose to meet his once again and I felt the world around me just fall away. His fingers reached out to me and ran down my face, his nails were sharp and dragged down my cheek.   
  
A desire I did not understand suddenly swept through me. I wanted this dark angel before me. I wanted him ways that I did not fully comprehend. The loneliness I felt was so suddenly vanquished. My throat tightened. I knew he could take all my pain away, devour me until I did not know right from wrong, evil from light, sadness from happiness, death from life.   
  
"You're lying," he said.  
  
"What's your point?" I breathed the words, lacking the conviction they should have had.   
  
I felt so defenseless, so vulnerable.  
  
"What do you want, Yami no Bakura?" I asked.  
  
He smirked, "Nothing you can give, Mutou." What was it in his flippant reply that made my heart sink.  
  
I felt careless suddenly, reckless even. Perhaps that's what made me do what I did next.   
  
I threw my arms around his neck, my eyes burning with something indescribable. I pressed my lips hard against his, the kiss far from innocent, but dark with all I felt twisting within.   
  
He growled banished me, his hands reaching up into my tri-colored hair to pull it back roughly, dominating the brief contact. It's hard to explain what I felt right then. It was so many things.  
  
I was kissing my mortal enemy, or my Yami's at least. In this moment I betrayed the one I loved to the deepest of extents. But I did not care right then. Had he not betrayed me as well by falling for that baka Ryou? My soul cried for a vengeance that was far from holy.   
  
Bakura lifted his lips from mine, his warm breath tickled across my face.  
  
"I'll make you a deal, Tomb Robber," I said softly.  
  
His interest was instantly peaked, "And what deal would that be?"  
  
"Take me...make me yours...and I...I will give you the Puzzle."  
  
A dumbfounded expression crossed his face.  
  
"Really now?" He grinned wolfishly, "Alright."  
  
His arms were around me again, lifting me up into the air and tossing me over his shoulder. Fear suddenly rose in my belly but I stamped it out. Maybe with Bakura I could find what I'd always longed for...maybe. I don't know. All I knew was that I wanted this more then anything else. I wanted it so much that it hurt.   
  
I glanced up at the cold, twinkling stars and only one question pounded through my mind.  
  
What had I done?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A.n.-And we stop there...well...what do you think? To cliché? Too expected? Where are Ryou and Malik, I bet you're wondering...don't worry, they're somewhat safe...maybe^_~. Mm, please review okee? I know I'm horrible at updating quickly...but it's ya'alls reviews that give me the oomph to even continue this and my other stories:).  
  
Beta-reader's Note: ^^;; Blame it on me for procrastinating... It took me 7 days 'cause I was multitasking... damn science project... ~R Amythest 


	9. Ryou's POV

A.n.- Gomen on the wait…I had some writers block and a few other things happened that I'm not gonna get into. I made this chapter extra long however…I hope ya'all enjoy itJ. Review onegai! JYour reviews are the life blood of what I write…no reviews…equal no story which equal a very sad me ~_~ so review onegai! ^_~  
  
  
  
Dedication-R Amythest, Just Call Me Cheese!, Yami no Hikari, AG the master, Charredrose, Dark, Firedraygon97, Kami Beverly, RyouXBakura Only, Alz-Chan, DreamingChild, Lostloer1, TJ, and Yoruset. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR REVIEWS!!^_^  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Stale jasmine.   
  
  
  
Jaded dreams of ash rest upon my tongue as I lie and wait for a bliss that will never receive me. Perhaps many years ago it would've, maybe I would have found the peace I so desire. But I was afraid then, afraid of what lay beyond the thin mortal curtain that swept across my vision.   
  
  
  
A blanket of darkness surrounds me, bloating out all light. It's easy to allow oneself to be devoured by this. To let yourself go into a place beyond the pain, the helplessness.   
  
  
  
I'm so numb now I can't feel anything.   
  
  
  
Everything is gone. All of it. There's nothing left for me. Only these dusty, shattered memories. We all believed too much in Yami no Yuugi. And that was our downfall. Ironic of how it came. All from little Mutou Yuugi. Why did he do it? No one really knows why. Or at least I don't.  
  
  
  
How did it all come down to this?  
  
  
  
How could he betray the other half of his own soul? Yet another question I do not know the answer to, so there for it is useless to think on it. I sighed slightly from my spot on the silk-pillowed bed. Yami-sama had never cared much for futons or any other bed than one like this. Made of thousands of pillows. But, it was rather comfortable.  
  
  
  
At the mere thought of Yami-sama I felt my hand rise of it's own accord to the silver collar that encircled my thin neck. On it was the Sennen Eye, the sign of Yami-sama's ruler ship over this world and any other he should choose.   
  
  
  
How long has it been since the world had been brought to its knees by this ageless thief of souls and Tomb Robber of the Ancient World? Months? Years? I do not know. Time has lost meaning to me. There is no point in counting the years that pass; it will only serve to depress me all the more. And that is saying something.   
  
  
  
I rose slowly from the bed of pillows. The room was gilded with every sign of wealth. The walls themselves were made of solid gold, silver hieroglyphics that told the story of the Shadow Games and how Yami-sama was able to gain possession of them all... and of the traitor, Yuugi-kun.  
  
  
  
I haven't seen him since the day Yami-sama came to 'rescue' me from the 'tender' mercies of one Yami no Malik. That was the day it all changed. Yami-sama took back the Sennen Ring, replacing it back around my neck where it still remains to this day. An ever-hanging weight to remind me of my sins.  
  
  
  
Yami and I are still connected through the power of the Ring. Our link still exists, though it has been widened to include Malik-chan, Yami no Malik, Yuugi-kun, and believe it or not, Yugioh.   
  
  
  
Yes. He lives. Though I don't know if you could call the blank, unresponsiveness he expresses to be life. Yugioh never lost a game to any one in his entire long life. Except to one. Yami-sama. I think the fact that it was his own Hikari that played a hand in his fall from grace that is what drove Yugioh into pure insanity. The rest I do not know.  
  
  
  
I am allowed limited contact with all four of them, though I rarely will reach out for Yuugi-kun and never Yami no Malik, I do reach out as often as I can for Malik-chan. He still remains optimistic, strong, and defiant of the chains that bind him even now. And on very rare occasions, I am allowed to go to Yugioh. Though more often the not, he has no idea who I am. And when he does, he thinks that it's the Old World when he was still the undefeated Game King…when his Hikari was still pure and under his protection and would never do anything to hurt him.  
  
  
  
I never correct him when he thinks that is the life he still living. I tried once and he backfired violently. Not physically, I knew better then to get that close. Hell hath no fury then my Yami-sama when his… 'property' is damaged. I didn't visit him for a long while after that. When next I did he thought he was the Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and I was my Yami-sama. He'd even conjured up the perfect outfits we'd of worn had it been Ancient Egypt. But then, it was his mind I was in…twisted though it was.  
  
  
  
I played along for a while before I finally made myself leave. Yugioh's babblings often do reveal things about the past that I previously did not know. Things of his and Yami-sama's relationship, though I suppose now it's nothing more then morbid curiosity that causes me to want to know just what Yami-sama did back then through Yugioh's eyes. It will do no good to know now. I used to think that such knowledge would help me understand Yami-sama, and that it in turn would allow me to try and change him.  
  
  
  
I was a fool to believe that I could ever change him. I closed my eyes as I walked over to the balcony adjoined to the room. This was Yami-sama's chambers. I was rarely allowed to leave him, even if according to Malik-chan was given more freedom out of any of Yami-sama's slaves. Which wasn't far from the truth. I wasn't changed to a bed or forced to do any form of labor. I was simply here. His little pet Hikari. I licked my lips, leaning over the banister slightly.  
  
  
  
It'd be easy to jump, to fall head first onto the stone walkway below, and to reveal in the agony that would strike me as my skull cracked and my brain began to seep through the cracks in the bone, to feel the salty taste of my own blood running through my probably bruised lips and down my smashed face. Yes, it would be easy.  
  
  
  
But I would not die.   
  
  
  
I would lay there in agony. No one would reach to help me, they would not dare. Maybe Yami-sama would heal me or maybe he would not and make me sit there in my own pain, suffering for my attempt to leave him. Our lives are not as connected as they once were. We are still connected at the soul and thus can feel each other's pain and emotions, or I can when Yami-sama allows me to, I can never block him the way he is so adept in doing to me.   
  
  
  
Our lives are still linked to every aspect... except to the one where if I were to die then so would he and vice versa. Yami-sama is immortal and thus cannot be sent to the Underworld or be resealed into the Ring. As such so am I. I am no longer mortal. The bliss of the everlasting slumber shall never reach me, unless he were to be so generous and allow me to die; something which has a snowball's chance in hell. AKA, not very bloody likely.   
  
  
  
Rather depressing to know that I'll be existing until time should cease to exist.   
  
  
  
I sighed again. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.   
  
  
  
There are those that still resist Yami-sama's rule. It's useless struggling, really. If Yami wanted them all destroyed he would've done so by now, but they were a constant source of amusement so he was drawing out their eradication. The Resistance was led by two men who were said to be rivals of Yugioh in Duelist skills-- Katsuya Jounouchi and Kaiba Seto. I felt a smile tug at my lips. As often as they fought way back then, it's hard to believe that they would be partners.   
  
  
  
I think part of the reason Yami-sama lets them live is the fact that without them, his victory becomes rather dull. After all, what's the point of having it all if there's no real entertainment to satiate the victory? No way to prove over and over again that it truly does belong to you. He needs the conflict that they bring. And while the way they give hope to the people that they may actually be freed from his iron fisted rule, and the way they try and destroy his monuments does infuriate Yami-sama to no end, he wants them to do that. He wants them to cause trouble just so he can one-up them in the end. So he can prove in turn that he is better then them. He wants to bring them to their knees.   
  
  
  
It's a cosmic pissing contest in other words.   
  
  
  
I couldn't help but smile slightly at that thought. It was rather amusing. I felt my hands rise to my lips in wonder. It's been a long time since I've done that. Smiled out of actual happiness that is, and not out of crude irony.   
  
  
  
Yugioh.  
  
  
  
I bit my bottom lip. I hefted myself onto the banister, balancing myself precariously on the stone as I stared up at the twilight sky. The sky was clear, beautiful and luminous. Full of lost memories and shattered dreams that died before ever daring to grow into fruit.   
  
  
  
Like…Yugioh and I. Admittedly, I suppose it was foolish of me to of thought of him that way in the first place. But I could not deny the way he had caused my heart to pound, how good it had felt to be held in his strong arms, to feel as though for the first time in ages that my world had righted itself.   
  
  
  
He was so different from Yami-sama and, as I would soon find, Yami no Malik as well. And that in turn made me nearly worship the ground he walked on. When he held me that night he gave my starving soul what it had so desperately needed: hope. I closed my eyes slightly.  
  
  
  
Even now I can remember it so clearly. His arms around me, his sweet scent surrounding me so completely that I could nearly forget all the pain that bounded me. Bliss, that's the only way to describe it…I wonder…if perhaps I could feel that way again. Would it be so wrong to try?   
  
  
  
But if Yami-sama would find me…  
  
  
  
I shuddered slightly at the thought.  
  
  
  
Yami-sama did not mind my visiting Yugioh…but…if I were to…repeat that moment in time…if I tried…I squeezed my eyes shut tightly…he would be angry. Very angry. Goosebumps rose on my flesh; tears burned under my closed eyelids.   
  
  
  
I can't do this anymore…I just can't.  
  
  
  
A sob escaped my lips. Mournful, ragged and harsh it echoed in the silent, chilly air like a scream would in a church. Hatred flushed through me, my hands clinched, my nails driving into the soft skin until I could feel a slight wetness running through my enclosed fingers. My teeth chattered and I clinched my jaw hard to stop the sound.   
  
  
  
A pain I have lived with for far too long rose in my chest, my very blood freezing in my veins as I opened my eyes to meet the cold moon above. I lifted my chin, feeling a fierce pride that I thought had long since been stripped away, spread through my frame. Yami-sama…no, Yami I cannot do this.   
  
  
  
I have lived two life times at your side now. One as a naïve boy that did not understand the power you held and thus fought back until you brought me to heel at your feet out of fear and desperation to always have you near. A part of me loves you beyond compare. Your dark light will always captivate me, for I cannot live without it. In the end I will always succumb to you; I shouldn't even bother this fruitless struggling really…  
  
  
  
An ironic smile twisted my lips. The second life I live now. In chains at your side, broken down to be the perfect little slave you wanted. You may stray from my bed, but you always return. For while you may strike me and make me bleed crimson suffering, you do care for me. And while you may bring me to my knees with but a glare, any other who dare attempt it you, would kill without a second thought or any remorse.   
  
  
  
Love? I don't know about that. You may love me, you may hate me, Yami-sama…no, YAMI, but you would not let me die at another's hands…you may try to kill me yourself for attempting this…  
  
  
  
But…I don't care…I don't…because, I cannot live another life time without trying…without reaching out. Yes, he's insane…maybe I can bring him back though…  
  
  
  
My empty laugh resounded across the courtyard. Cold and devoid of any real emotion. Neither happiness nor cruelty tainted the tone.  
  
  
  
If I'm going to risk my neck and my remaining sanity, the former actually being rather appealing because of what it pertained to, then I might as well quit lying to myself and be honest. Self-delusion has been my strong point many a time, and as of yet it hasn't done me much good.  
  
  
  
I'm doing this because I want him. Because I want to feel like I'm loved, I want to feel like something's real. I want to believe in something beyond myself, I want to believe that he did love me and it wasn't pity or lust like Yami-sa - Yami said. I'm doing it for the selfish reason that I can't live alone like this anymore. I can go day to day in this numb reality.   
  
  
  
I'm doing it because I need him like I needed Yami that night…I'm doing this because I can't go on regretting not doing it before.   
  
  
  
I nodded my head firmly to thin air and returned to Yami's bed of pillows. I looked anxiously at the door before closing my eyes.   
  
  
  
Yugioh…  
  
  
  
And then I was there. I found myself staring at the door that would lead me into his soul room. The door was ancient, made of cracked stone that was heavy with age. I reached for it slowly, my hand trembling as I turned the knob and pushed it open. It creaked as I entered, the room was dark with shadows, yet seemed to glow with a vast blue light that had no source.   
  
  
  
The room was modeled from simplicity. A simple modern-day bed with satin black pillows and a red silk cover. The floor was covered with a dark blue carpet that was slightly rough beneath my feet. The air was hummed with the forgotten scent of spicy incense that was both slightly sickening and yet incredibly soothing and sweet. The room was always different whenever I entered. It could be a Pharaoh's chamber, a Labyrinth, this, Yuugi's old room, the different styles went on and on.  
  
  
  
I said nothing, glancing down to notice I was dressed in a pair of simple blue jeans and a button down shirt covered with a sweater vest. Similar to what I had always worn in the old days. Comfortable, more then ready for any kind of weather. Did this mean he was his normal self? Or was he in a rage of insanity? Would he see me, the real me, or Yami-sa…Yami?  
  
  
  
"Ryou."  
  
  
  
His voice was soft, neutral of emotion.  
  
  
  
He knew my name. Did that mean he was himself? My heart pounded in my chest, a feeling I could not describe lurching through me. I felt alive for the first time in ages. I felt like the old me, I felt like the teenager I was just before all of this had come down crashing around me. For the first time in countless years I felt as though I was free, I felt like I was something more then a toy to be played with and discarded at will. In saying my name, he breathed life into a part of me I thought had left to die and rot in the shadows of my broken dreams.  
  
  
  
I turned and stared at him. He was dressed in red Pharaoh robes that were loose and flowing around his lithe frame. His ruby eyes cut straight through me and for an instant I felt my knees buckle beneath me. He looked so much like his real self, right then. You could barely see the flickers of madness behind those beautiful garnet eyes.  
  
  
  
"Yugioh…"  
  
  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
  
  
"I came to see you."  
  
  
  
"Why?"  
  
  
  
I paused.   
  
  
  
"Because I needed to."  
  
  
  
He seemed to absorb this information. He approached me, his movements the epitome of grace and danger. Yugioh did not simply *walk*. To say that was to demean his very form. His feet were whisper quite on the rough carpet, his hands swung gently at his sides, his fingers loose and relaxed as though he did not have a worry in the world.  
  
  
  
"He betrayed me."  
  
  
  
I felt surprise spurt through me. Just what personality was this? Yugioh never mentioned his Hikari unless it was in reverence of the old days, or if he did not, it was because he had yet to know he even existed. I licked my lips.  
  
  
  
"…Hai."  
  
  
  
What point was there to lie to him?  
  
  
  
"Why?"  
  
  
  
His voice sounded so harsh, yet so mournful at the same time…filled with anger and despair that I knew at that moment nothing could ever truly dispel.  
  
  
  
He stood right in front of me, his breath warm on my face as his heated eyes searched for answers he so obviously believed that I could provide. I felt a sinking feeling fall through me. I didn't want this. I didn't want to be the one standing before him. In a sense I had been hoping he would think that we were back the days when he was the Game King, my Yami was simply an annoying arch rival, once Tomb Raider, that would never succeed. Then, for a few moments, the world around me could be as it once was. I had wished to pretend, obviously I would not be allowed such a respite.  
  
  
  
I wanted to break our gaze but I could not. To look away was to lose him and in this moment I knew the man that stood before was the real Yugioh, not the many personalities his mind had conjured up to hide from the pain that riveted through his frame. To hide from the wounds that would never fully heal. It hurt, to see the once proud, noble man broken in such a fashion.   
  
  
  
I let out a breath.   
  
  
  
"I do not know."  
  
  
  
My voice sounded hoarse even to my own ears. What could I say to ease his suffering? I could not ease my own, how could I be expected to end his? I stood there before him, both of us immortal, each of us chained by a past that can not be changed, each of us drowning in the blood red agony of all that was lost, all that will be, and all that we have become.   
  
  
  
He reached out, running a single long digit down my face. The touch was so gentle, as though I were a mere china doll that would collapse under the slightest pressure. Tears burned at my eyes. How long had it been since someone touched me in kindness? Even when I speak to Malik his touches may be kind, friendly even, but it is not the same as the halting touch Yugioh gave. There was something mystical about it, something too perfect to be described, something that made my blood heat in my veins and a smile and a frown tug at my lips at the same time. An odd…yet…pleasant feeling really.  
  
  
  
"Ryou…your eyes…they're so much different from before…."  
  
  
  
Hai…they are…sometimes I fear to look in the mirror…for I do not like the sight of the stranger that dares stare forth back at me.   
  
  
  
I reached up suddenly and grabbed Yugioh around the waist, burying my face in his lean chest. Cautiously I felt his arms fall around me, holding me close. He backed away and I followed him. He sat down on the bed, pulling me onto his lap. I sat there, him cradling me up against him…so near like that one night…that one night when I wasn't Yami-sama's…I was…Yugioh's…how I wanted that to be true! How I wanted that dream to be real!  
  
  
  
But it can't be…because... I no longer have a choice about who I belong to. I'm bound to the other half of me, and heaven and hell together strike me down, I love him. I love him beyond words…but Yugioh…Yugioh makes me feel…and for the first time in my seemingly endless life it's not pain or sadness I feel…it's happiness. A bliss that cannot be described, for how can I describe the pure bliss that he wraps around me? How can I describe what it's like not to simply *exist* but to *be*?  
  
  
  
I breathed in his scent. It was just as unique as I remembered, just as calming…I felt warm tears make there way down my face.   
  
  
  
I looked up at him and he smiled sadly.  
  
  
  
"There's the Ryou I remember."  
  
  
  
I blinked in surprise. What did he mean?   
  
  
  
"Yugioh...I…I…"  
  
  
  
What were the words that were trying to fight there way up? What was it I wanted to say? What were those words that were burning me to my very core trying to escape? But I was too afraid to allow them such a release…  
  
  
  
"Ryou," he stopped me, "what is it that you want?"  
  
  
  
"What I want?" I spoke the words distantly, it'd been an even longer time since anyone had asked me that, a time so long ago I did not remember it if it had ever even existed, "I don't know…I…I want this."  
  
  
  
He tightened his arms on me.  
  
  
  
"Your Yami will be coming soon."   
  
I nodded my head.  
  
  
  
"I know."  
  
  
  
"You should go. He will punish you for this, you know that. Me as well."  
  
  
  
"I know that. I will take the blame though. No need to give him more of a reason to inflict pain on you."  
  
  
  
He chuckled, the sound seemed wrong in this room though. So different from the laugh I remembered. Perhaps in a way I had idolized him in my mind…put him on a pedestal…for it was true…in my eyes he could do no wrong, not after what he had given me.   
  
  
  
"Since when has he ever needed a reason?"  
  
  
  
I felt an ironic smile twist my lips up once more.  
  
  
  
"That is true."  
  
  
  
He snuggled his head up against mine.  
  
  
  
"You know, I wanted to free you from him…"  
  
  
  
"I know."  
  
  
  
"But I couldn't…"  
  
  
  
"It's alright…things could've ended worse…Marik, you remember him, the spirit of the Sennen Rod, could've ended up with all the items. At least the world still exists, along with everyone on it. Had he won, we'd all be in oblivion right now."   
  
  
  
"Oblivion may be preferable to a slow death, Ryou," he replied.  
  
  
  
I nibbled on my bottom lip.  
  
  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
  
  
"Y'know…" he paused, "At one time, I thought I was in love with you."  
  
  
  
My heart stopped in my chest.  
  
  
  
"Y…you were?"  
  
  
  
"Hai."  
  
  
  
"An…and now…?"  
  
  
  
My breathing stopped as I awaited his reply…seconds became hours.  
  
  
  
"I—"  
  
  
  
"RYOU!"  
  
  
  
I felt a scream twiddle its way up in my throat. No. NO! It's not possible! How did I not sense him! I looked franticly up at Yugioh only to see the real him fading. He was retreating into his mind from his fear, hiding away to a place inside him so he could not feel the pain that dwelled in him. I only wished I could do the same…  
  
  
  
"No, Yugioh…do you? DO YOU!?"  
  
  
  
Those words…if they were true... maybe, maybe I could try something…But I needed to know…could he still love me? Or had those feelings changed?   
  
  
  
I would never know.  
  
  
  
I was ripped from his mind painfully despite how I grappled on with everything I could to remain. I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay…NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  
  
  
  
DAMN YOU YAMI! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL!  
  
  
  
Laughter, malicious and consuming ripped through my mind as I opened my eyes with a fury I could not and would not deny. Yami's crimson brown eyes meet mine and in that instant I wanted him dead. I wanted to kill him the bloodiest way possible. I wanted to paint this luxurious room RED!  
  
  
  
I jumped onto him, knocking him back and grabbing his throat with my hands and squeezing. How dare he! How dare he take my only moment of peace! How dare he expel me before I could know the truth!!  
  
  
  
Blood filled my mouth and the harsh ground meet my back as I was thrown off him. I jumped to my feet instantly, falling to a small crouch as my lips lifted in a snarl. Yami's enraged _expression meet mine, but what really made my anger burst higher was the amusement I felt rolling off him. He was *enjoying* my little act of defiance….  
  
  
  
With a growl I charged at him, grabbing him around the waist and taking him back down to the ground. I grabbed one of his numerous daggers from his waist and struck out blindly. I cut an arc through the air, feeling the warm spray of ruby red across my face and down my arms. No sound of pain came from Yami. He'd never express such a "weakness".  
  
  
  
Agony cut across my belly and I looked down to see my dagger imbedded there. In my brief lapse of tasting the coppery sweetness of his life fluid in my mouth, I hadn't been paying enough attention. He shrugged me off him, straddling me with his legs as he snarled down at me.   
  
  
  
He twisted the knife sending lightening bolts of convulsions shivering through my frame. Pain. Pure unbridled pain cut through me.   
  
  
  
He pulled the dagger out only to impale me through my right shoulder to the hilt. I screamed in agony, feeling my vocal cords snap tight enough to snap apart as the inhumane cry erupted from me. I couldn't move, I was literally stuck to the floor. He climbed off me, absently licking one of his fingers. They were a Christmas red in color now. Soaked through and through.   
  
  
  
He walked over to the bed and lay down.  
  
  
  
"I'll leave you there to think on your actions, Ryou. We'll finish your lesson tonight at sun down... after I finish with Yugioh," he chuckled darkly.  
  
  
  
Fear shot through me and I tried to rise only to cry out in pain. Movement hurt. A LOT. I tried to remove the jewel embedded dagger only to let my hand fall away the second I touched it. The hilt burned like fire. Blistering my hands until they too began to bleed.   
  
  
  
Suddenly, I couldn't move. My body…it was paralyzed. All I could do was feel…feel the soul searing agony that ripped through my mind and body. Salty tears fell down my face.  
  
  
  
Yugioh…  
  
  
  
Onegai…gomen….Forgive me for my selfishness…onegai…  
  
  
  
  
  
I tried to scream, to voice all that I felt only to find I could not speak, to express what I felt inside in any manner except the tears running down. Damn you Yami. DAMN YOU.  
  
  
  
Death would be peace…but I knew that wasn't what would take me this night. No, that would be too much to ask for. Yami was alive and well…as I would I remain. He would not allow me to die that easy. I am immortal, same as him... same as the other Hikaris and the other Yamis. No matter what wound was inflicted I could not die.  
  
  
  
God I hate you…I hate you Yami…I HATE YOU!  
  
  
  
I looked up, moving my gaze to the starlit sky.   
  
  
  
So this how it ends…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A.n.- 'n' we stop there…what did you all think? Was that expected? Hope not. ^_^ Mm, review onegai…^_^_^ 


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